As Karnataka Cong govt looks for rice to meet pre-poll guarantee, AAP steps forward

After Centre blocks FCI route, Andhra and Telangana say no, while Chhattisgarh says can give 1.5 lakh MT but only for a month; on AAP-ruled Punjab, Siddaramaiah says it was they who approached it first, but not sure about its rates

AAP Karnataka president Prithvi Reddy and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah. (File/Facebook)

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IN ITS bid to implement its Anna Bhagya scheme to provide 10 kg of food grains per month per person of a BPL family, the Congress government in Karnataka has got an offer of help from unexpected quarters. The Karnataka unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has said the AAP government in Punjab is ready to provide the rice.

In a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, AAP Karnataka president Prithvi Reddy said he “had a detailed discussion on the issue with Punjab Chief Minister Shri Bhagwant Mann. He has reacted positively and has, in principle, agreed to supply the… rice”.

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To roll out the scheme, which was part of the Congress’s pre-poll promises, by the scheduled date of July 1, the state government has to procure 2.28 lakh metric tonnes of rice every month. The government hoped to procure the same from Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks, and put asideRs 840 crore per month (around Rs 10,092 crore per year). However, with the Centre stopping sales to state government schemes from the FCI stocks, saying it wanted to avoid any inflationary issues, Karnataka is struggling to procure the price at affordable prices.

The Siddaramaiah government, which has accused the Centre of doing politics over rice so as to thwart its Anna Bhagya scheme, had said it would reach out to rice-producing states like Telangana and Chhattisgarh. However, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have turned down Karnataka’s requisition, though fellow Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh has promised to help Karnataka.

Also Read | Karnataka Cong govt’s food grain guarantee takes a hit, Centre stops rice, wheat sale by FCI to states

On Monday, Siddaramaiah said Karnataka was “honestly trying” to implement the scheme, despite the difficulties. On AAP’s offer, the CM said the state Chief Secretary had spoken to her Punjab counterpart. “Will they supply it (the rice) at this rate (the FCI rate of Rs 36.6/kg)? We will talk to the Punjab government again,” he said, suggesting that the state government had spoken to Punjab before the state AAP made its “offer”.

On June 13, a day after Karnataka had received clearance from the FCI for rice supply, the Centre had stopped the sale of rice and wheat to state governments, barring those in the Northeast or tackling natural disasters. The Congress has questioned the logic of the FCI being allowed to sell to private vendors but not states that wanted to supply food grains cheaper to their people.

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“(This is) vendetta politics, doing politics over giving rice to the poor. I have never come across (such things) before. Does the Central government grow rice? They procure it from farmers,” Siddaramaiah said.

Since then, the Karnataka government has been reaching out to states that grow paddy. “We are not getting rice from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana. Chhattisgarh has assured 1.5 lakh metric tonnes, but for only a month,” he said on Monday.

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Karnataka has also approached the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation, and Kendriya Bhandar. “All three are Government of India agencies. We have sought a quotation for the rice available (with them),” the CM said.

The state Congress has announced a protest against the Centre over the issue across district centres on June 20. The BJP has accused the Congress of misleading the people of the state. At a news conference on Saturday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya claimed the Karnataka government had written to the FCI four days after an inter-ministerial committee had decided to prohibit the sale of grains to states.