Karnataka's Anna Bhagya Scheme

Tags: Government Schemes State News

The Karnataka government is currently facing challenges in implementing the Anna Bhagya scheme starting from July 1 due to the unavailability of the required amount of rice.

An overview of the news

• The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has halted the sale of rice to state governments, including Karnataka, since June 12. 

• This discontinuation of rice supply has created difficulties for the implementation of the Anna Bhagya scheme.

• However, Punjab has in principle agreed to supply rice to Karnataka in the required quantity.

• FCI initially agreed to provide the required 2.28 lakh tonnes of rice, but later refused to do so.

• Telangana and Andhra Pradesh expressed their inability to supply, while the Chhattisgarh government offered to supply 1.5 lakh tonnes.

About Anna Bhagya Scheme

• The state government intends to increase the allocation of free rice from 5 kg to 10 kg per person on Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards under the Anna Bhagya scheme.

• The aim of this increase in free rice allocation is to provide more support and food security to the persons belonging to BPL category.

• The implementation of this revised allocation is scheduled to begin from July 1.

• The increased allocation of free rice will cost the state government an estimated ₹840 crore per month.

• Annually, the scheme is expected to cost Rs 10,092 crore to the state exchequer.