Woken up to cost imposed by PM's 'vendetta politics': Cong on states can buy rice from FCI decision

New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI) The Congress on Friday alleged the Centre stopped selling rice to states under the Open Market Sale Scheme with the sole intention of disrupting Karnataka's Anna Bhagya Scheme and said it had finally woken up to the huge cost imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "vendetta politics" and decided to resume rice sales.

The opposition party's attack came a day after Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the states can directly buy rice from the Food Corporation of India at Rs 2,800 per quintal without participating in the e-auction if they need it for their welfare schemes.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that on June 13, 2023, the Modi government stopped selling rice to the state governments under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) - OMSS(D), reversing the Food Corporation of India's orders to Karnataka issued the day before.

"This irrational policy was undertaken with the sole intention of disrupting the Karnataka government's Anna Bhagya Scheme, which doubles the quota of rice (from 5kg to 10 kg per month) available to each individual entitled to grain under the National Food Security Act (2013)," he said.

With the Modi government refusing to sell the state adequate rice to implement the scheme, it was only the Karnataka government's determination and proactiveness that allowed it to continue the scheme through a cash transfer of Rs 170 per month for each eligible beneficiary to meet expenses for purchasing the additional 5 kg of rice, he said.

"This vendetta-driven decision not only deprived the people of Karnataka of an additional five kilogrammes of rice through the Anna Bhagya Guarantee, but also increased India's food subsidy bill by tens of thousands of crores," Ramesh said.

"The non-biological PM's government had justified its discontinuation of the sale of rice through OMSS(D) on the grounds of poor monsoons and high prices," he said, adding that in reality a newspaper report revealed on July 4, 2024, the government was storing 50 million tonnes of rice -- three times the required buffer of 13.54 million tonnes.

"It costs the FCI about Rs 3975 to buy, transport and store one quintal (100 kg) of rice. By refusing to sell Karnataka rice for its Anna Bhagya scheme and instead storing this additional rice, the Union government spent an estimated Rs 16,000-18,000 crore," he claimed.

"The government has finally woken up to the huge cost imposed by the non-biological Prime Minister’s vendetta politics and decided to resume rice sales to the states. The states can now directly purchase rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) without participating in e-auction," Ramesh said.

The rice is now being sold for Rs 2,800 per quintal (excluding transportation cost), while Karnataka was hoping to source it at Rs 3,140 per quintal, excluding transportation cost, the Congress leader said.

"The non-biological PM's government refused to sell it the rice then and is now desperate to offload the excess rice. This is the result of policy-making that is driven by vendetta rather than by welfare," Ramesh said.

The Centre last year did not provide rice to the states because of apprehensions of lower output in view of poor monsoon rains. Karnataka had demanded rice last year for its welfare scheme but the request was rejected.

In June 2023, the Centre discontinued the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to the state governments.

Addressing a press conference here, Joshi had said, "States can directly buy rice from central pool at Rs 2800 per quintal. They do not need to participate in the e-auction process." He said there has been no demand so far from any state.

According to an official statement, the states can purchase rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) without participating in the e-auction from August 1, 2024.

The decision has been taken to reduce the huge surplus of stocks prior to the commencement of the new procurement season.

Under the OMSS (D), the Food and Public Distribution Department will directly offload grain to the states for Rs 2,800 per quintal (excluding the cost of transportation). PTI ASK AS AS