‘Misused’ Sarkari promise turns into ‘Tarkaari’ brainwave

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar recently said the government was contemplating giving a grocery kit instead of the additional 5 kg rice under Anna Bhagya scheme to prevent misuse of rice.

“The additional 5 kg rice given under Anna Bhagya scheme is being misused. In order to prevent it, the government is contemplating giving a grocery kit which includes oil, lentils, sugar, salt and other items. The kit will be named Indira kit,” he said, while speaking at the World Food Day event at Vidhana Soudha.

“We had promised to issue an additional 5 kg rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme in lieu of the cash component. Looking at the rising incidence of rice being sold 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 an average, a person uses 5-6 kg 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 from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru. Indira Gandhi and Devaraj Urs gave land to the tiller and the poor got ration cards. SM Krishna introduced the mid-day meal scheme. Siddaramaiah launched the Anna Bhagya scheme on the day he assumed office. No one can stop these welfare programmes,” he said.

‘Critics copying our schemes’

“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,” Shivakumar claimed.