Karnataka Cabinet Replaces 10 Kg Free Rice Scheme With ‘Indira Kit’ Containing Dal, Oil, And Pulses

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has decided to modify one of its five guarantee schemes, 10 kg free rice to every family per month, with `Indira Kit', which will have 5 kg rice and other cooking material.

A decision with this regard was taken during the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, which appears to be a cost effective effort from the government by saving Rs 306.48 crore annually.

As a matter of fact, the Rice Guarantee scheme is not completely a state government scheme. Under the Centre's National Food Security Act, 5 kg rice per family is being distributed. The State government was adding its share of another 5 kg. Now, instead of rice, the state government has decided to add 1 kg Dal, 1 kg pulses, 1 liter edible oil, salt and sugar, before distributing it to BPL card holders as `Indira Food Kit.'

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said that the government was distributing 10 kg per person and many families would get 40-50 kg of rice. Most of these people would sell excess rice in the black market to purchase other cooking materials like Dal, pulses, oil and so on. The government has decided to give these items instead of giving them excess rice and pave the way for black marketing, he said.

However, the real calculation is that the state government used to spend Rs 535 crore every month to procure rice to add to Food Security Act scheme rice and distribute it to BPL card holders. Compared to that, supplying dal, pulses and oil is working out Rs 25.04 crore cheaper, which would save the government at least Rs 306 crore per month.

Besides, the government has made three types of kits. For the families with only two members, the kit will have half kg each of dal, pulses, sugar, salt and edible oil. For the families between 3-5 members, they will get one kg each of the above items. For the families with above five members, it will be one and a half kg each.