Rice scheme may miss July 1 launch date as Siddaramaiah says new sources being explored

The chief minister, who has accused the Centre of intentionally depriving the state of access to low-cost rice supplies through the FCI, indicated Saturday that the state had called for quotations and was holding negotiations with central agencies for securing rice supplies for a year.

“We wanted to start the free rice scheme also from July 1 but we are not getting supplies of rice. We thought about procuring it from Punjab and Chhattisgarh. We spoke to Chhattisgarh, we spoke to Telangana, we spoke to Andhra Pradesh, but we are not getting the quantity that is required by the state. Even if supply is possible, they are quoting high rates,” he said.

“We need 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme. This quantity is not available with any state. Telangana says they cannot give rice but can provide a substitute. Chhattisgarh says it will supply for a month and what happens in the second month? Punjab said they cannot supply a large quantity. They said they can supply in November and that they have no stocks at present. In Andhra as well, the required quantity is not available,” he told reporters.

Siddaramaiah’s remarks came a day after Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa was told by Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Piyush Goel that the FCI would not be able to supply the rice for the scheme since the central government had restricted the sale of rice stocks from the FCI to control inflation.

“So as a result, what we are doing is approaching other government agencies like the NCCF (National Consumers Co-operative Federation). We are seeking quotations. We are approaching the Kendriya Bandar, which is also a central government agency, and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED). All the three organisations have provided quotes and negotiations are underway,” Siddaramaiah said. “Once the discussions are complete we will have a picture of how much rice they will supply, what quality of rice and the timelines for supply.”

Karnataka is seeking 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice at a cost of around Rs 840 crore per month to facilitate the free rice scheme.

Siddaramaiah also indicated that the state may resort to supplying 2 kg of ragi and jowar as substitutes for a portion of the 5kg rice scheme if it cannot secure the requisite rice supplies.

“We have ragi and jowar supplies for six months and they can be given in place of rice. We can give 2 kg of ragi in the Old Mysore region and 2 kg of jowar in the northern parts. There is still a shortfall of 3 kg of rice. This is the problem. There is a shortage of supply of ragi and jowar for the whole year,” he said.

Earlier this week Siddaramaiah stated that the free rice scheme might not meet the July 1 launch deadline but that the scheme would be launched at any cost. He has claimed that the BJP government’s decision to stop sales of rice from the FCI to the states was a political move intended to dent the Karnataka free rice scheme. He also claimed that the FCI had on June 12 agreed to supply the rice.

“As I have already stated, our programme for the poor is being hampered by the Centre and they have not agreed to give us access to rice supplies. They are in possession of a large quantity of rice. There are lakhs of tonnes of rice. They are willing to give it to private parties and they are auctioning it. But they are insisting that they will not supply rice to the states,” he said. “We are not asking for the rice to be supplied free of cost. We have said that we are willing to pay for the costs. We are getting 5 kg of rice from the Centre and it costs Rs 36.70 and we are willing to pay the same amount. It is Rs 36.70 per kg of rice. Let them give it to us when they have plenty of stock.”

“What is the intent of not supplying rice? Do they not want to give the rice to the poor? Are they indulging in politics of vengeance? Should we call them pro-poor or anti-poor? The people of the state have to think about this,” the chief minister said.

The Opposition BJP has threatened protests if five promises made by the Congress to the people ahead of the 2023 polls are not implemented by July 4.

Siddaramaiah, however, asked what right the BJP had to stage protests. “We are operationalising the five guarantees. We have begun one programme. From the first week of July 1, the programme of providing free power (Gruha Jyothi) will be initiated,” he said.

After meeting Goel in New Delhi on Friday, Muniyappa said the Centre had rejected the state’s request for rice despite the availability of 262 lakh metric tonnes of rice in the central pool against the buffer stock of 135 lakh tonnes of rice. “We requested rice for the BPL cardholders. He (Goyal) said it is not possible. It is politically motivated. The minister is not willing to give the rice even though it is available,” he told reporters in Delhi.

There are more than 1.19 crore BPL cardholders and 4.42 crore beneficiaries for the free rice scheme in the state, the food minister said. The state proposes to give every member of a BPL family 5 kg of free rice in addition to the 5 kg from the Centre.

While the state government has outlined a requirement of 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice for the state scheme (it also includes state 39 lakh BPL beneficiaries other than the nearly 4 lakh National Food Security Act beneficiaries) the central scheme involves the supply of 2.17 lakh metric tonnes for 1.17 crore BPL card-holding families under the National Food Security Act.

The Centre on June 13 discontinued the sale of rice under the open-market sale scheme (OMSS) to state governments citing inflationary pressures.

Muniyappa said the state government had been using the OMSS to supply rice to 10.9 lakh state BPL ration cardholders—over and above 1.17 crore BPL cards identified under the NFSA. He said the state had been supplying 1 kg of additional rice to all ration cardholders for the last seven months by using the OMSS facility.

“The sudden discontinuation of OMSS blocked the possibility of getting rice from the FCI for the state scheme. It is difficult not only to give an additional 5 kg rice per BPL family member per month from July 1 but also to supply the monthly quota of foodgrains for 39 lakh beneficiaries of state ration cardholders,” the state food and civil supplies minister said.