Karnataka Anna Bhagya Scheme: The Congress and the BJP are attacking each other over the supply of rice to Karnataka. Meanwhile, the central government told that the center has refused to sell or provide rice from its stock to many states to ensure that the price of grains does not increase in the open market and people get it cheaply.
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal has said this in the midst of a political controversy after the state was denied the supply of rice on Tuesday (June 20).
When Union Minister Piyush Goyal was asked about the protests in Karnataka on the issue of rice supply, he said that a committee of secretaries has decided that the stock of rice in the Central Reserve should be kept to serve 140 crore people of the country. Should go and the state can buy rice from the market if needed.
Why did BJP and Congress protest?
Politics over the supply of rice in Karnataka heated up as the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP staged protests in different parts of the state. The Congress protested in all the district headquarters of the state against the BJP-led central government for allegedly refusing to provide rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme of the Karnataka government.
On the other hand, several BJP leaders, including former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, were detained while protesting in some parts of the state against the Congress government’s alleged failure to provide 10 kg rice to each member of a BPL family.
Which states are demanding rice?
The Center said that it cannot provide additional five kg of food grains. However, Karnataka said that it is ready to buy food grains from central institutions like Food Corporation of India (FCI), Central Warehousing Corporation and Nafed. Recently, the central government stopped the sale of rice and wheat to state governments from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS).
Goyal said, “I have received demand for rice from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Various states keep demanding rice in huge quantities, but we have refused (to give rice) to all of them.
The Center releases surplus grain from its stockpiles under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to augment the supply of wheat and rice and curb price rise in the open market.
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