K.H. Muniyappa said Union minister Piyush Goyal's refuses to supply rice for Karnataka state scheme, cites 'low stock'

The Food Minister for Karnataka, K.H. Muniyappa, addressed the press on June 23rd and conveyed that the Union Minister Piyush Goyal had declined the Karnataka government's request for rice supply, intended for free distribution by the state government, citing a shortage of stocks.

This distribution aimed to fulfill the pre-poll campaign promise of the Indian National Congress within the state. Unfortunately, Muniyappa left the meeting with the Union food minister empty-handed, as his counterpart claimed the inability to allocate such a significant quantity to the state.

Expressing disbelief, Muniyappa stated, "We are willing to pay the price, but the minister claims there is no stock." He further emphasized that despite the central pool currently holding 262 lakh tonnes of rice, surpassing the required buffer stock of 135 lakh tonnes, Minister Goyal refused to provide even 10 kg of free rice for below poverty line (BPL) cardholders. Muniyappa conveyed these sentiments to the reporters, deeming it a politically motivated decision where available rice was being withheld.

However, the Karnataka government remains resolute in fulfilling its promise to support citizens below the poverty line (BPL). In this regard, the state government has identified alternative central agencies, including NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation), the Kendriya Bhandar, and NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India), to procure rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme. Muniyappa assured that the government would fulfill its commitment to distributing free rice to the underprivileged as soon as possible.

The decision of the central government, made on June 13th, to discontinue the sale of rice under the open market sale scheme (OMSS) has severely impacted Karnataka and other states operating their nutrition schemes for marginalized citizens. The Centre cited inflationary pressure as the reason for this decision.

Muniyappa submitted a representation to Minister Goyal, explaining that the Karnataka government had been utilizing the OMSS scheme to source rice for state cards, which were sanctioned in addition to those issued under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). For the past seven months, the government has provided an additional entitlement of 1 kg of rice to all ration cardholders.

The minister highlighted that Karnataka has more than 1.19 crore BPL cardholders and a total of 4.42 crore beneficiaries. Currently, the Centre supplies 5 kg of free rice per beneficiary per month under the NFSA. Additionally, the Karnataka government intends to provide an extra 5 kg of free rice, totaling 10 kg. To achieve this, the state government requires 2.29 lakh tonnes of rice per month to distribute the additional 5 kg to all NFSA beneficiaries and state cardholders.

Muniyappa noted that the sudden discontinuation of the OMSS program unexpectedly hindered the procurement of rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for this state scheme. It has not only made it challenging to launch the new program of providing an additional 5 kg of rice per member per month but has also impacted the regular monthly entitlement of food grains for 39 lakh beneficiaries who are state ration cardholders.

With the kharif procurement season concluding in most parts of the country, sourcing rice from other states or the open market is proving increasingly challenging for Karnataka, as acknowledged by Muniyappa.