Only Modi's rice is guaranteed, BJP mocks Congress as Karnataka replaces rice with Indira Kit

The Siddaramaiah regime’s decision to replace the state's quota of 5-kg rice with an Indira Food Kit containing cereals, salt and edible oil has drawn flak from the Opposition BJP which has mocked the Congress party saying ultimately it is only PM Modi’s rice that is guaranteed to people.

The Congress rode to a landslide victory in the May 2023 assembly polls on five electoral pledges, including 10kg of free rice to low-income families. Karnataka has about 4.5 crore people living in low-income families.

Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by Siddaramaiah, decided to make some changes in its share of 5-kg rice. According to which, below poverty line (BPL) cardholders will, from now on, get a kit containing one kg each of green gram, toor dal, sugar, salt and edible oil as a replacement for the state’s share. The state government reasoned that misuse of PDS rice as a reason for the modification. In addition, the government said a survey showed beneficiaries preferring dal, sugar, and edible oil etc., to rice.

The BJP has termed the decision as a collapse of the Anna Bhagya scheme. The party, in a post on X, said the promise of 5 kg rice was a mere bluff by the Congress party. “The 5 kg rice being provided by PM Narendra Modi is the only sure thing for Kannadigas, while the 10 kg rice promised by Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar has made its way to a land of no return!”

A below poverty line cardholder anywhere in the country is entitled to 5kg of rice/food grains under the National Food Security Act, but a state must fund on its own if it wants to give additional quantities of food grains to its BPL cardholders. Soon after assuming power, the Siddaramaiah regime faced difficulties to source rice at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) price and the rice offered by Telangana and Chhattisgarh was costly. Ever since, the state is giving BPL families Rs 170 a month in lieu of its share of 5 kg rice.