BENGALURU: With the state government deciding to give money instead of an additional 5 kg of rice per beneficiary under the Anna Bhagya scheme from July 1, officials at the Department of Food and Civil Supplies seemed clueless as to how to deposit the money into the accounts of beneficiaries as their Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards do not have bank and PAN card details.
The Congress government, unable to procure required rice for the guarantee scheme promised before the Assembly polls, decided at its cabinet meeting on Wednesday that Rs 34 will be given instead of
1 kg of rice till the rice procurement issue is resolved. Under Anna Bhagya, each person is eligible for 5 kg of rice which means Rs 170 per month.
After the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “We had promised to give rice from July 1. We need 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice every month. But till we get the required quantity, we will pay Rs 170 per beneficiary per month.”The government needs Rs 750-800 crore per month to implement the scheme, covering over 85 lakh BPL card holders.
A senior department official told The New Indian Express that a BPL card has the name of the cardholder, names of the beneficiaries in the family, Aadhaar card number, address and other details. But it does not have the bank or PAN card details. “Neither do we have the data at the backend.
We don’t know how to release the money to beneficiaries. We are waiting for the government’s order,” he said. Unlike the Gruha Jyothi or Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme, the state government has not initiated any application procedure for Anna Bhagya, nor is it developing any app, he said. “It may not be possible to send money immediately as linking BPL cards and account numbers is a huge task” he added.
M Suresh, who owns Shiv Traders at the APMC yard at Yeshwanthpur, said that no rice variety is available at Rs 34 per kg and prices range between Rs 50 and Rs 60 in the retail market. At the wholesale market, prices are around Rs 40 to Rs 50. “Rs 34 is the price fixed by the Food Corporation of India for the state government agencies to procure rice in bulk. But the common man will not get it at that price,” he said.