Efforts on to procure rice from Andhra, Telangana, says Muniyappa

Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa on Wednesday said that the state government has held a series of talks with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to procure rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme.

“As of now, they have agreed to supply rice at Rs 40 per kg, excluding transportation cost. We have not yet decided whether to procure it or not. We will soon hold discussions with officials concerned and then with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to finalise,” he told reporters here.

He noted that procuring rice at Rs 34 per kg from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) would have helped the state, but both states have stated that they were ready to sell for Rs 40/kg.

“We have requested both the states to reduce their price and they have sought about a week’s time to get back. Once they give us their final price, we will start deliberations with officials concerned and thereafter, a meeting with the CM would follow before sealing the deal with these states,” he said.

Muniyappa said the state government is committed to supply rice, while the DBT will continue till the state finalises the procurement of required quantity.

“There are about 5 lakh BPL cardholders where even a deceased member is in the list. So we have allowed these cardholders to rectify the ration card data by ensuring deletion of deceased members and include if there are any new members in these cards,” he said.

The minister maintained that the government has taken steps to issue fresh BPL cards, requests for which were pending for a year.

Cards for med claims

“Our main focus is to issue BPL cards exclusively to allow beneficiaries to claim medical benefits and BPL cards will be issued to allow beneficiaries claim food grains too, but our first priority will be to issue cards to allow beneficiaries to claim medical benefits,” Muniyappa insisted.