Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah announced on Saturday that the process of transferring money to Below Poverty Line (BPL) cardholders as part of the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme will begin on July 10.
This announcement comes after the government decided on June 28to provide cash instead of additional kilograms of rice to BPL families due to challenges in rice procurement.
Speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on Saturday, Siddaramaiah clarified that the money transfer would begin on July 10, emphasising that the funds for this month will be transferred promptly.
He said, “We had previously mentioned that we would provide money instead of rice this month. However, we did not specify the date. The process of transferring money to beneficiaries will start on July 10, ensuring that the money for this month reaches the people promptly.”
Under the revised plan, the government will provide ₹34 per kilogram of rice, while the Union government will provide the remaining five kilograms.
Further, each member of a BPL family will receive money for five kilograms of rice, addressing the issues faced in rice procurement.
The decision was made on June 28during a cabinet meeting led by Siddaramaiah, who stated that cash payments would continue until the government “can secure an adequate supply of rice from the open market”.
Elaborating on the government’s efforts to acquire rice, Siddaramaiah revealed that they approached several rice-producing states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab. However, these states were unable to meet Karnataka’s monthly rice requirements of 29,000 metric tonnes.
Despite protests by the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanding the full implementation of the Anna Bhagya guarantee, deputy chief minister Shivakumar said that the Congress government remains undeterred.
Shivakumar stated that the government would provide cash for five kilograms of rice to eligible cardholders until an adequate rice supply is available for the successful implementation of the scheme.
Shivakumar indicated that a few states had offered to sell the required rice for one or two months. “We did not take their offer as the government did not want to start the scheme and discontinue midway,’’ he said.
Refuting BJP’s claims, Shivakumar accused the Opposition of “playing dirty politics” and alleged that the Narendra Modi government intervened to block the open market sale of rice, aiming to prevent the implementation of the Anna Bhagya scheme.
He further criticised the BJP for changing their stance and advocating for rice instead of cash, despite initially challenging the government to pay in cash if rice was unavailable.
Pointing out that chief minister Siddaramaiah had met Union home minister Amit Shah and state’s food minister K H Muniyappa had personally met Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal to ensure that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) fulfils its earlier promise to sell the required quantity of rice.
He stated that senior government officials, including the chief secretary, have been making efforts to procure the necessary amount of rice.
“BJP played dirty politics, and the Narendra Modi government suddenly intervened to direct FCI to stop the Open Market Sale of Rice with the political motive of ensuring that the Anna Bhagya scheme is not implemented,’’ he said, accusing BJP of being “anti-poor”.
Shivakumar said the state BJP leaders when the state BJP leaders realised that the Centre had blocked the sale of rice to Karnataka and the government was unable to procure the required quantity from other states or central agencies, they challenged the government to pay cash if rice was not available.
“The government took up the BJP challenge and decided to pay cash in respect of the 5 kgs per person per month,’’ he said.
HT could not get a comment from the BJP on the remarks.
