Govt may buy rice from open market to fulfill promise

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: The new Congress Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has plans to buy rice in the open market to keep its promise of providing 10 kg rice free to every member of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families starting this month.

This exercise, according to senior officials in the Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs, would cost an additional Rs 700 crore monthly as the number of BPL families in Karnataka has touched almost 1.35 crore.

The incumbent government has to make a separate provision to arrange resources for this project because it cannot expect any additional supply of rice from the Government of India. Under the Public Distribution System, the Government of India supplies 4 -5 kg of rice to each BPL family in each state by procuring rice from various sources.

The cost of purchase is borne by the Union Government. Since 10 kg of free rice to each member in each BPL family is one of the populist schemes announced by the Congress Party in its election manifesto during the Assembly polls in Karnataka, the Government of India is unlikely supply additional rice to the state because other states would come up with similar demands.

Officials have reportedly told the newly-appointed Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister K.H.Muniyappa that the state has to float tenders to buy rice from the open market at the prevailing price and then distribute the same to BPL families free of cost.

The total number of BPL cards is around 1.35 crore and each family will have a minimum of four members. So each family will get 40 kg of rice free but the cost of the same must be borne by the State government. The process of elimination of non-eligible families is on and is expected to end soon. The tender process would start once the state government formally announces the implementation of the five poll guarantees.

As most of the guarantee schemes announced by the Congress Party are meant for BPL families, the demand for BPL cards has increased. Lakhs of people have applied for the cards through online and offline modes and the verification is taking time. "In my view, despite the elimination of bogus card holders, the number of BPL families will go up in the State", opined a senior official.