The State government will procure five lakh tonnes of rice from mills at Rs 2,400 per quintal for its Anna Bhagya scheme.
This was decided at a State Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Thursday.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said it would be mandatory for all rice mills to supply rice to the government at the fixed price. The quota for each mill would be decided depending upon its hulling capacity.
Despite offering `1600 per quintal of paddy, the government was not getting sufficient quantity of paddy from farmers, he said.
‘‘We have decided not to purchase rice from the Chhattisgarh Government at Rs 28-29 a kg. We will mobilise the rice required for the scheme from farmers and rice mills. Paddy grown in Gangavathi and Raichur will be purchased at Rs 2,500 per quintal’’, he said.
The minister said the Cabinet also decided to procure Jyothi variety of paddy (boiled rice) from farmers at Rs 1,600 per quintal and it would be converted into rice and supplied to below poverty line families of coastal Karnataka.
Jayachandra said henceforth, all ration shops have to keep open their shops for the first 10 days of every month starting from January 1, 2014.
This is being done to enable the people to purchase rice and other commodities at ration shops under Public Distribution System.
It would also help the government monitor the implementation of the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, he said.
He said Rs 235.92 crore would be released for providing food items to the families of police, home guards, prisons and fire and emergency services personnel and also for midday meals to ninth and tenth standard students.
A decision was also taken to release Rs 314 crore to Department of Public Instructions for implementation of the ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ scheme for school children.
Other Decisions
The minimum support price for palm oil is fixed at 8,500 a tonne for the year 2013-14 and it will cost the state exchequer Rs 281.4 crore.
To tackle malnutrition in Chincholi in Gulbarga and Deodurga in Raichur, the Karnataka Nutrition Mission will implement the scheme in two taluks by spending `30 crore from various donor agencies.
The State government has also decided to buy 2,104 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
Mining Leases: State to Seek SC Clarification
Bangalore:The State Cabinet on Thursday decided to seek clarification from the Supreme Court (SC) on auctioning of mining leases for Category C mines.
The government had in September last issued notification cancelling 51 mining leases under Category C in Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga districts following a directive from the Supreme Court.
The apex court, in its April 18 order, had directed the State government to cancel the leases of those companies which had been engaged in large scale illegal mining. The court had also ordered re-allotment of the leases to end users.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra clarified that there has been no change in the State’s stand on cancelling 51 mining leases, but a clarification is required as the Supreme Court had stated that leases may be granted in a transparent manner to the highest bidders among the end users. ‘’The state wants to know from the apex court about the term ‘end users’ and also area to be allowed for mining in the State’’. The government will work out details only after seeking clarification from the SC. However, the iron ore from Category C mines will be only for ‘captive use’ and there will be no sale or export of iron ore, he said.