BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to launch the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme by distributing cheques to a few beneficiaries at the Conference Hall of Vidhana Soudha at 5 pm on Monday.
Since the government cannot procure the required quantity of rice for the scheme, it is giving cash of Rs 170 per month per beneficiary against 5 kg of rice at Rs 34 per kg. Around 4.42 crore people from 1.28 crore families, including BPL and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) card holders, are expected to benefit. The CM, who is also the finance minister, allocated Rs 10,275 crore for the scheme for the 2023-24 fiscal year in the budget at Rs 856.25 crore per month.
The government had promised to launch the scheme on July 1. But it faced hurdles, as the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry and Department of Food and Public Distribution took a policy decision to discontinue the sale of rice and wheat to states under the Open Market Sale Scheme-Domestic (OMSS-D).
Caught in a bind, the state government decided to pay cash, instead of rice, to beneficiaries until the rice supplies were ensured. Now, the government has called for tenders to get the staple.
Of the five guarantees Congress had promised in the run-up to the Assembly polls, the government has launched the Gruha Shakti, allowing women to travel free in all non-premium KSRTC buses, while the process is on to start Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity, Gruha Laksmi to give Rs 2,000 per month for women heads of every family, and Yuva Nidhi, which gives Rs 3,000 for unemployed graduates and Rs 1,5000 for diploma. Siddaramaiah allocated Rs 35,410 crore in the budget for all the five guarantees for the 2023-24 financial year.