Karnataka food grain guarantee faces significant setback

The implementation of the Karnataka Congress government’s second guarantee, the Anna Bhagya scheme, which aimed to provide 10 kg of food grains per person per month to all Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, has faced a significant setback.
The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has issued a notification discontinuing the sale of wheat and rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks to state governments. This development has hindered the government’s plans to roll out the scheme and provide subsidized food grains to the eligible families.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed strong criticism against the decision of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to discontinue the sale of wheat and rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks to state governments. At a press conference, he stated that this move was a “political decision” taken by the BJP government at the Centre with the intention of preventing Karnataka from supplying grains to the poor.
The Karnataka government had requested 2.28 lakh metric tonnes of grains from the FCI to fulfill the requirements of the Anna Bhagya scheme. Initially, the FCI had agreed to supply around 2.22 lakh metric tonnes as per two letters dated 12 June. However, a day later, the Union ministry issued a directive to the FCI against selling grains to state governments, causing a setback to the implementation of the scheme in Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah further asserted that despite the Centre having ample rice stocks of seven lakh tonnes, they were deliberately stopping the sale of grains to states. In response, Karnataka had reached out to rice-cultivating states like Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and others to ensure that the implementation of the Anna Bhagya scheme was not hindered and could begin from 1 July.