Karnataka govt halts cash allowance, shifts to ‘10 kg rice’ for beneficiaries under Anna Bhagya scheme: Report

Karnataka Minister for Food, KH Muniyappa, said on Wednesday that the state government will begin distributing an additional 5 kg of free rice this month, as promised under the pre-poll guarantee as reported by Bangalore Mirror.

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“From this month, beneficiaries will receive the full quantity of 10 kgs of rice. The central government has agreed to provide the additional supply,” the report mentioned Muniyappa as saying.

As a result of the new decision, the Karnataka government will halt the monthly allowance of ₹170 per individual for 5 kg of rice under the BPL scheme starting this month. Until November, beneficiaries had been provided a cash allowance instead of rice.

“We will continue transferring the amount through DBT until January,” Minister KH Muniyappa added.

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The Congress government had accused the Centre of attempting to sabotage the Anna Bhagya scheme by withholding rice, despite sufficient stocks being available in Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses, as reported by PTI.

"From February, we will provide 5 kgs of rice per beneficiary every month instead of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)," Muniyappa told reporters.

For the past couple of months, there have been complaints about non-payment of funds to beneficiaries of Anna Bhagya (which provides cash in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to every member of a BPL household) and Gruha Lakshmi (which offers ₹2,000 per month to women heads of families) in some cases, PTI reported.

According to Muniyappa, the Centre procures rice from various states at ₹40 per kg, which includes transportation costs.

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With the Centre agreeing to provide rice at ₹22.5 per kg, the state government will save ₹150 crore to ₹190 crore, he said.

Anna Bhagya scheme was one of the five key poll promises made by the Congress ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections in May 2023.

(With inputs from agencies)