The national conference of Food Ministers of States and Union Territories saw an exchange of words between Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister K.H. Muniyappa over the restriction imposed on States to purchase foodgrains from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) through the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS).
Apart from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan too urged the Centre to restore the earlier provisions so that States could fill the deficit foodgrains needed for their schemes. Karnataka’s recently elected Congress government had relaunched the Anna Bhagya scheme offering five kilogrammes of foodgrains to poor people over and above the existing schemes.
Also read: Explained | The Centre-state tussle over the Open Market Sale Scheme
Raising the issue, Mr. Muniyappa said in the meeting that States had been left to starve because of the decision. He urged the Centre to immediately restore OMSS for rice and wheat for States.
“Karnataka could procure 4.5 LMT rice in the last kharif season. We want to increase the procurement to six LMT (lakh metric tonne) in this season. We need additional foodgrains to help poor,” Mr. Muniyappa said, adding that the deficit foodgrains to run the Anna Bhagya scheme could be made available from the FCI. “The additional foodgrains offered through the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was suddenly discontinued. In the name of inflation, the Centre is discontinuing schemes meant for the poor,” Mr. Muniyappa told The Hindu after the meeting.
He criticised the Centre’s response towards the problem. “I spoke for all States. My stand was in support of the poor people in BJP-ruled States too. Food Ministers of those States are unable to criticise this decision publicly, though they are also facing huge deficit of foodgrains,” Mr. Muniyappa said.
When Mr. Muniyappa called for Mr. Goyal’s help in launching the scheme, Mr. Goyal said such help would be at the cost of 134 crore other Indians. “How can you add five kilos the Centre is giving and write in your manifesto that you will give 10 kilogrammes [of foodgrains]? If you have to give 10 kilogrammes of foodgrains, you need 73 LMT rice. Even if you take 25 LMT of rice, you will not be able to meet the promise of your choice,” he said, asking other Ministers that if they were willing to afford inflation, he would then provide additional foodgrains to Karnataka the following day.
Mr. Goyal explained that production and procurement could be lower than estimates due to issues such as the El Nino phenomenon. “I have to look after 140 crore Indians. Should I keep the stock to make it available to 140 crore Indians? If the rate of rice goes up, what is the tool we have? It is OMSS by which we can check the prices. We were able to manage inflation better than many other countries because of efficient management,” he said.
Apart from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan also raised the issue of OMSS. Tamil Nadu Food Minister R. Sakkarapani told The Hindu after the meeting that the State demands additional quantity of wheat and rice from the Centre. “We have a strong universal public distribution system (PDS) in Tamil Nadu. We are not a wheat-producing State. So we need wheat from the Centre’s stocks. We were getting allotment of 30,648 MT (metric tonnes) of wheat per month up to May, 2022. Now we are getting only 8,532 MT of wheat per month. We have requested allotment of an additional 15,000 MT of wheat per month instead of rice, or to supply it through OMSS,” Mr. Sakkarapani said.
He added that Tamil Nadu needed an additional 60,000 MT rice per month apart from the regular allotment under National Food Security Act. “We are implementing universal Public Distribution System even before the introduction of NFSA (National Food Security Act). Allotting 60,000 MT of rice per month under the OMSS will also help in controlling the prices,” he added.
