 "Dharmendra Pradhan")
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday claimed that the Centre spends Rs 8,400 crore for distribution of the food grain among poor people in Odisha while the state government's expenditure in this regard is only Rs 185 crore per annum.
Pradhan, the Union Education minister who hails from Odisha, told reporters that the Centre will spend Rs 700 crore per month which amounts to Rs 8,400 crore annually to provide free rice for 3.25 crore people of Odisha under the food security scheme.
He, however, urged the state government to ensure that the poor beneficiaries get the "Modi rice" without any hurdles.
According to a decision taken by the Union Cabinet last month, the Narendra Modi government would provide free food grain to the people for one year under Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY). "Odisha's 3.25 crore people will be covered under the PMGKY and will get free of cost rice for one year," Pradhan said.
The Union minister said of the 4.5 crore Odisha's population, 3.25 crore people will get "Modi rice" free of cost. They constitute around 85 per cent of the state's population, he claimed. "Let people decide who is helpful to them. Its Rs 8,400 crore versus Rs 185 crore" , he said.
Referring to Odisha government's cheap rice scheme where the poor people were getting rice at the rate of Rs 1 a kilogramme, Pradhan said: "The Centre was bearing 90 to 95 per cent of the cost, while the state had to take care of the rest. The state government had the responsibility to properly distribute the rice to the beneficiaries."
Of the rice priced at Rs 30 per kg, the Centre was bearing Rs 27 while the state government was giving Rs 2 a kg and the beneficiary gets it at the cost of Rs 1.
Pradhan said now that the Centre will take full expenditure, the state has nothing to continue, but to ensure proper distribution.
Explaining the cost involved in the free rice programme, Pradhan said around 1,87,475 metric tonnes of rice will be required for distribution among 3.25 crore people of the state per month. With rice costing Rs 37.28 per kg, around Rs 700 crore will be spent per month and Rs 8,400 crore per year by the Centre in the state, the Union Minister said.
Pradhan also claimed that the Centre has also been giving assistance for computerisation, modernisation and accounting systems to strengthen the distribution system in the state.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: "With the Centre announcing free rice for poor, the state government's claim to provide cheap rice will end now. They (state) were giving Rs 2 a kg and taking all credit of cheap rice distribution. Modi government delivers."
Odisha's Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Atanu S Nayak, however, said: "We do not compete with any one and seek mileage from welfare schemes. People know who is what. The state government is now providing free of cost rice worth Rs 185 crore. The amount may increase."
The Naveen Patnaik state government had first launched the cheap rice scheme in the state just before the 2009 general elections. Before the National Food Security Act came into existence, Patnaik government had introduced the scheme to provide 25 kg of rice to BPL families every month.
Though a BPL family under the public distribution system was entitled to get 25 kg of rice every month, under the food security act of 2013, a person is entitled to either five kg of rice or five kg of wheat or both as per his or her requirements.
The state government has launched its own food security scheme after some of the beneficiaries were left out of the NFSA provision. The state government has been giving cheap rice to about 9 lakh families as the beneficiaries of the NFSA get.
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