Karnataka govt to raise closing of OMSS at food ministers’ meet
New Delhi: As the preparations for the national conference of food ministers are well in place, the Department of Food and Public Distribution, which works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, may face the ‘heat’ of Karnataka government over discontinuation of the sale of rice
and wheat from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to state governments.
The decision of the Centre has put the fate of Karnataka’s ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme in limbo as the Congress-ruled state has deferred the roll-out of the populist scheme from July 1 to August 1 due to unavailability of grains.
The Karnataka government has promised to provide free grains to the poor under ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme and the state had sought 13,819 tonne of rice for its own scheme under the OMSS without e-auction for July at the rate of Rs 3,400 per quintal.
“The issue of discontinuation of OMSS would be raised at the conference of state food ministers. Almost all the non-BJP ruled states are scheduled to raise their demand in favour of continuation of the scheme,” sources said, adding that the Centre is deliberately creating roadblocks in the implementation of state-sponsored different welfare schemes.
Notably, the Centre has discontinued OMSS to put a check on rise in the prices of essential food items.
However, the conference is aimed at developing an action plan for the procurement of coarse grains during Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-24 and discussing key initiatives undertaken by the government for effective implementation of PMGKAY as well as strengthening the focus on food and nutritional security.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal would chair the conference in the presence of his deputies Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
The key highlight of the conference would include the launch of the sugar-ethanol portal. The other key agenda points for discussion include the implementation of SMART-PDS, supply chain optimization, grading of procurement centres and transformation of fair price shops (FPSs), etc.
