Denying rice to state anti-poor move: Rai

Mangaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka is committed to implement all the five guarantee schemes. However, it is the BJP government at the Centre that is opposing the Anna Bhagya Scheme, which offers 10kg rice to poor families in Karnataka, said former minister B Ramanath Rai.
Rai told reporters here on Monday that the Congress government has already implemented the Shakti Scheme allowing free travel for women in state-owned buses.“The Central government has prevented the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from releasing rice to Karnataka. This is injustice by the Centre towards the poor. They should not stop schemes that are aimed at the welfare of the poor,” Rai said.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah has already produced the letter of the FCI that offered rice to the state, he said, demanding the Centre to release rice immediately. “When the Congress announced Anna Bhagya Scheme, many criticized it saying that the state would become bankrupt through such programmes. However, the same section of people is now demanding the distribution of free rice immediately. This is their double standards,” Rai said.
“The state is not asking for rice from the Centre for free but is willing to procure the required quantity by paying the price. The Congress government will implement the scheme at any cost,” he said.
Protest today
Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee president K Harish Kumar said the party will hold a protest near Mini Vidhan Soudha in the city at 10.30am on Tuesday against the Central government for denying rice to Karnataka. District and health and family welfare minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and other leaders will be participating in the protest, he said. Rai said Congress workers from Bantwal will participate in the protest by holding plates for denying rice to the state.
Referring to the withdrawal of financial grant given through Kollur Mookambika Temple to two aided schools managed by Sri Rama Vidyakendra Trust by the Congress government in 2017, Rai said the then government had not denied supply of rice to those schools, but only prevented the misuse of temple funds.
“Many had protested against the Congress government then by holding rice plates for stopping the funds from the temple,” Rai said.