Payment of cash in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to beneficiaries under the Anna Bhagya scheme will begin from Monday. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will launch the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme. Last week, the Chief Minister said that this month’s amount will be deposited into the bank accounts of beneficiaries shortly.
Faced with procurement challenges, the State government announced that cash will be paid to beneficiaries at the rate of ₹34 a kg for the additional 5 kg of rice under the free rice scheme. This is applicable to every member of BPL and Antyodaya households for up to five members.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister K.H. Muniyappa said there are 1,28,16,253 ration cardholders eligible for benefits under Anna Bhagya and Antyodaya schemes. Nearly 99% of these cards are seeded with Aadhar number and 82% (1.06 crore) of these cards are linked with active bank accounts. The cash transfer will start for these cards. The remaining ration cardsholders will be intimated to open new accounts,” he said.
According to the guidelines, ₹170 per month per person (at ₹34 per kg), which is about ₹850 per month for a family of five will be transferred to the bank account of the head of the family. However, Antyodaya households - that have three or less than three members will not get the cash benefit as they are already getting 35 kg of rice a month currently.
“Over 1.27 crore ration cards have one member designated as HoH ( Head in the Household). Cash will be transferred to the bank accounts of these HoHs. Over 94% of HoHs are women. Households where HoH has not been identified or if there is a dispute between two persons over being a HoH will also not be eligible for the cash transfer till the issue is sorted. If households where two members, including a woman, claim to be head of the family, the cash should be deposited in the woman’s account,” according to the guidelines.
