Keeping an eye on the forthcoming byelections to two Legislative Assembly seats, the State government has proposed to increase allocation of subsidised rice from 5 kg to 8 kg for a unit of family.
At the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Wednesday, the proposal to increase subsidised ration to BPL families under the Anna Bhagya scheme was unanimously endorsed. The CLP welcomed the proposal and appealed to U.T. Khader, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, to implement it at the earliest. The proposal would be placed before the Cabinet and effected soon, sources said.
Under it, a single-member family will get 8 kg of rice, while an eight-member family will get 64 kg a month. “In the unit system, the larger the size of family, the larger the quota,” a source said.
It was also decided to supply milk to schoolchildren for five days a week under the Ksheera Bhagya scheme. Both schemes are likely to figure in the State Budget, sources said.
Issues related to drought and the drinking water crisis were also discussed at the meeting, with legislators alleging that officials were not responding to the grievances of villagers.
Action against veteran leaders sought
It is learnt that legislators have appealed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ask top party leaders to take action against senior Congress leaders such as B. Janardhana Poojary, H. Vishwanath and C.K. Jaffer Sharief, who have been issuing statements criticising the government and the Chief Minister. They argued that this was embarrassing to the rank and file of the party. This gains significance in the light of another veteran leader, S.M. Krishna, recently quitting the party.
