Anna Bhagya beneficiaries will get cash first 3 months, till we procure rice: Min

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: State Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Thursday said that the state government has decided to transfer cash to Anna Bhagya free rice distribution beneficiaries for the next three months. It will distribute 10 kilograms of rice per unit to the beneficiaries after three months.

By that time, the state government will stock the required rice it needs to distribute to all beneficiaries, he said after participating in mass prayers at the Eidgah Maidan of Koratagere in Tumakuru district.

The minister, who defended his government decision of transferring cash instead of distributing food grains, said that BJP leaders have given this idea of transferring cash to beneficiaries’ accounts in case the government failed to procure the required rice. Now they too oppose the transferring of cash to Anna Bhgya beneficiaries.

Though the union gover nment has stocked enough rice of seven lakh quintals tons at different warehouses across the country, it is not ready to sell the rice under the Open Market Scheme to Karnataka. The union government decided to sell the same rice to private agencies, but not to the state government when it made all preparations to roll out the Anna Bhagya free rice distribution of 10 kilograms per unit from July 1.

The central government and BJP leaders are politicising the issue, he alleged. BJP leaders have taken the matter as a prestige issue, but they are not in favour of implementation of the scheme, which benefits the poor, he added