Ensuing polls for the state assembly due early next year and the current situation of rising prices of essential commodities have compelled the Orissa government to announce its special subsidised rice programme for the poor. The scheme would entail a state government subsidy amounting to Rs 8,000 crore and it would benefit 5.579 million families.
Taking its cue from Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Chhattisgarh, the Orissa government has announced the distribution of rice at Rs 2 per kg to families below the poverty line (BPL). This new scheme is also intended to cover beneficiaries under the Antyodaya Annapurna Scheme, students in hostels meant for scheduled castes and tribes and families above the poverty line (APL) in the erstwhile KBK region. “The price of salt is Rs 8 per kg, that of potato is Rs 8 per kg, that of onion is Rs 14 per kg and prices of pulses and other vegetables range between Rs 20 to Rs 40 per kg. Subsidised rice at Rs 2 a kg is just a drop in the ocean,” said Maheswar Mulia, a slum dweller in Bhubaneswar.
The scheme was formally launched by chief minister, Navin Pattnaik on August 2 in Bhubaneswar and the implementation of the scheme commenced from August 5 in all districts. Rations under the scheme would be distributed through fair price shops on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 20th, 21st and 22nd days of each month.
The state government however denied that the move was intended as a populist measure keeping in view the polls. “The Tamil Nadu government is giving rice to the poor at Rs 2 per kg, the Chhattisgarh government is giving at Rs 3 per kg. The central issue price for rice for BPL families is Rs 5.65 per kg and that for APL families is Rs 8.50 per kg. We are prepared to subsidise on our own in the interests of the poor,” said a senior official in the state’s department of food, civil supplies and consumer welfare.