K’taka Congress promises 10 kg of free rice per head for BPL families

BENGALURU: After announcing its Gruha Jyothi and Gruha Lakshmi election promises, the state Congress on Friday announced that from the first day the party comes to power, its government will give 10 kg of rice free to all Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

Addressing a hurriedly called joint press conference, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar and legislature party leader Siddaramaiah said that after the BJP came to power, the quota of rice was reduced from 7 kg per head under the Anna Bhagya scheme to 5 kg per head. “To eliminate hunger, we will be giving 10 kg rice to every BPL cardholder. This is our party’s third guarantee”, they said.

Siddaramaiah giving details about the Anna Bhagya scheme.

“The state gets rice at Rs 3 per kg from the Centre and the state spends Rs 4,000-5,000 crore on the scheme. But increasing the rice quota to 10 kg per head, the government’s expense may rise by Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. Basavaraj Bommai has become an expert in telling lies. Perhaps, that’s why the RSS picked him to be Chief Minister”, Siddaramaiah said.

Further, he said the previous Congress government was providing 7 kg of rice per person which the BJP reduced to 5 kg citing shortage of funds. “During the Praja Dhwani Yatra, many people told us to increase the quota of rice. It is the responsibility of the government to feed the poor, especially in view of the rising prices”, he added.

D K Shivakumar demanded that the legislaturesession be extended by a day to discuss denotification issues.

The KPCC chief said the BJP had promised to waive farmers’ loans of up to Rs 1 lakh, but did nothing. “They have now brought up the Arkavathy Layout issue and claiming illegalities of Rs 8,000 crore in redoing the plan. What were they doing for four years?” he questioned. He also demanded that the ongoing legislature session be extended for a day to debate all denotifications and redo issues.