GADAG: Karnataka’s Anna Bhagya ration rice is now reaching dinner tables of NRIs on foreign shores, but in polished form. The rice, distributed to BPL families as one of the government’s guarantee schemes, is being smuggled to Maharashtra from where it is routed to other countries.
Gadag police recently busted a racket after seizing a vehicle on the outskirts of Gadag city carrying 32 tonnes of Anna Bhagya rice. The driver said they were to be unloaded in Maharashtra. Truck drivers also carry fake documents with the Haveri Agriculture Produce Market Committee seal.
Koppal farmers had earlier complained that Anna Bhagya rice packets were being smuggled to Dubai and Singapore. Last September, rice bags worth Rs 1.17 crore were seized in Yadgir, and an investigation had found that the bags were to be exported to foreign countries.
Gadag police are keeping a vigil on the illegal transportation racket, and seized tonnes of packets in the past few years, but the smuggling of rice has not stopped.
Farmers in Gadag, who have contacts with Maharashtra’s wholesale buyers said black marketeers in Gadag, Hubballi and Koppal have links with agents in Maharashtra, who demand polished rice and export the same to foreign countries. Anna Bhagya rice meant for the poor in Karnataka is siphoned off and sent to rice mills in Gangavathi and surrounding areas for polishing, before being sent to the agents.
An official from the Food and Civil Supplies department said they seized rice bags while being smuggled to Maharashtra.