Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 16 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stated on Thursday that the government is considering providing a grocery kit instead of the additional 5 kg of rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme to prevent the misuse of rice.
"The additional 5 kg of rice given under Anna Bhagya is being misused. To prevent it, the government is considering providing a grocery kit that includes oil, lentils, sugar, salt, and other essential items. The kit will be named the Indira kit," he said while speaking at the World Food Day event at Vidhana Soudha.
"We had promised to issue an additional 5 kg of rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme in lieu of the cash component. Looking at the rising incidence of selling additional rice in the open market, the government has taken a decision to give grocery kits," he added.
"We have not taken this decision under any pressure from any quarter. This decision has been arrived at based on a survey and discussions with MLAs. On average, a person uses 5-6 kgs of rice in a month. Hence, we have decided to issue grocery kits. This historic decision has been taken under the leadership of CM Siddaramaiah and Minister K H Muniyappa," he added.
The Congress party has been giving food security to people since the days of Nehru. Indira Gandhi and Devaraj Urs distributed land to the tillers, and the poor received ration cards. SM Krishna introduced the mid-day meal scheme. Siddaramaiah launched the Anna Bhagya scheme on the day of assumed office. No one can stop these welfare programmes," he said.
"When the prices of essential items, including gas cylinders, shot up, our government introduced the guarantee scheme. Our government is spending Rs 53,000 crore every year on this. The BJP leaders, including the PM, criticised our guarantee schemes, but they have copied these schemes in many other states," he added.