After the e-auction of rice by Food Corporation of India (FCI) following the imposition of restrictions did not attract buyers, Congress on Monday alleged that the Narendra Modi government through its "petty and vindictive politics" sought to sabotage the guarantee scheme of providing free rice to the poor but the Karnataka government has given a befitting reply.
General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said that the Modi government's actions do not make for cooperative federalism that the Prime Minister boasts about but reflects "confrontational federalism at its petty worst".
Ramesh's remarks came on a day when reports emerged that e-auction of rice by FCI, in which state governments were barred from participating, attracted buyers for only 170 tonnes out of 3.86 lakh tonnes of rice on offer.
The Modi government had in June barred state governments from lifting rice from FCI through the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS-Domestic) route. It also barred private players from selling rice to state governments. Congress had accused the Modi government of resorting to this policy measure to squeeze the Congress government in Karnataka and put roadblocks in rolling out its guarantee scheme.
Sharing his statement on Twitter, Ramesh said, "the Modi Government has played petty and vindictive politics on food security for the poor in Karnataka. It tried to sabotage the Karnataka Congress' Anna Bhagya guarantee. But beginning today the state government has given a befitting reply even as it continues in its efforts to get additional rice."
He said the Congress government would not be shaken in its resolve to implement its guarantee and for the time being, it is launching a scheme today that will transfer Rs. 170 every month to each of the 4.42 crore persons in the state covered by ration cards.
This transfer is equivalent to the amount the state government would have paid the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had the Modi Government not intervened at the last minute and stopped the sale of rice even though there are ample buffer stocks available, he said in the statement.
"The cash transfer scheme launched today by the Congress Government in Karnataka is a befitting reply to the Modi Government's vindictive policies in regard to food security for the poor especially in a state where the BJP was comprehensively rejected," he said.
He said that the FCI had on June 12 agreed to supply additional rice required for which the state government had agreed to pay Rs 34 per kg. But just a day later, he said, the Modi Government cancelled the approval while allowing FCI to continue selling rice at Rs 20/kg to ethanol producers.
"After preventing the Karnataka government from going ahead with its purchase of rice from the FCI, the Modi Government asked the FCI to e-auction rice to private traders with the condition that Karnataka could not buy from them. But this e-auction has flopped miserably and more than 99.9% of the rice offered for e-auction remains unsold," he said.
"In any case, it is clear that the Modi Government has greater faith in private traders to control inflation than in state governments and the public distribution system," he added.