Karnataka government, opposition in war of words over rice scheme

Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today launched the ambitious 'Anna Bhagya' scheme in Bangalore. The scheme covers nearly 1 crore families which have the below poverty line or BPL ration card, where in each family can get upto 30 kilos of rice at Re 1 per kg. The scheme will cost the state exchequer more than Rs 4400 crore a year.

A jubilant Siddaramaiah said, "Forget how much it costs and where the money is coming from. Has the poor man's hunger vanished is the question. This, according to me, is among the biggest 'punyas' (good works) of the Congress."

Chinnamma, who lives in Bangalore's Ejipura slum, was buying rice at Rs 3 a kg before. Now that has been brought down to Re 1. She is happy but wonders how long such a scheme would last. "I sleep on an empty or half full stomach usually. Hopefully that will stop now," said Chinnama, a BPL card holder.

The Congress says the scheme which was a promise made in their manifesto before the polls in Karnataka on May 5 this year, will make Karnataka hunger free.

The opposition says this scheme, along with the Food Security Bill from the Centre, is being rolled out keeping the Lok Sabha polls in mind.

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For now, Karnataka which is not primarily a rice producing state is buying a little more than 1 lakh tonnes of rice from Chhattisgarh. Critics say, it is unviable as there is neither enough rice nor funds to sustain the scheme.

"Even genuinely poor people are yet to get BPL cards. There are so many flaws in the list. Neither the previous government nor the present government have sorted that out yet, before rolling out distribution at subsidized rates. First we ask the government to sort that out. I welcome the scheme but then it needs more homework which this government has not done," said Karnataka Assembly opposition leader HD Kumaraswamy.

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The corporate sector too has been critical of the scheme. Formerly with the Infosys and now Vice President of BPAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee) Mr Mohandas Pai said, "If government does this, it is nothing but looting money of the tax-payers. Giving rice at Re 1 per kg for one crore people - neither that much of rice is available nor money," Mr Pai added.

Pai also suggested that the government could utilize Rs 4,000 crore odd money to implement skill oriented schemes which would help generate livelihood.

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Karnataka gets nearly 2 lakh tonnes of rice from the Centre every month. The state has bought over 1 lakh tonnes of rice from Chhattisgarh at Rs 27 per kg.

There are more than 97,000 BPL card holders in Karnataka. The Right to Food scheme from the Centre is meant to cover more families as beneficiaries. If and when the central government's scheme is implemented, it will enable the states to purchase more grains at lesser cost.

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But that doesn't mean that Karnataka will be malnourishment-free as claimed by this government. Because rice does not give the kind of nutrition that millets like Ragi and Jowar do which Karnataka produces in large quantities.