‘Anna Bhagya has also helped farmers’

For those who think that Anna Bhagya has affected farmers as not many are opting for farm labour after the government started distributing rice at Re. 1 a kg under the scheme, Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Dinesh Gundu Rao sought to set the records straight with statistics here on Wednesday.

According to him, the government’s flagship scheme has not only helped poor families, but also provided succour to farmers.

Dwelling on various socio-economic dimensions of the scheme on the occasion of its first anniversary, the Minister said paddy growers had been encouraged by it to grow more as a huge quantum of paddy had been procured by the government.

This is not all. The scheme had also played a role in ensuring price stability for paddy growers as the government provided minimum support price to them, he said. While an MSP of Rs. 1,600 a quintal was provided to paddy last year, this was increased to Rs. 2,000 a quintal this year, he said.

While distribution of ragi had also started under the scheme, jowar would become part of it shortly. To encourage farmers to grow these crops, the government was set to announce MSPs for them at the time of sowing itself, he said.

According to the Minister, the scheme has covered nearly 70 per cent of the State’s population by distributing 2.93 lakh tonnes of foodgrains.