The State has started providing ragi to poor families under the Public Distribution System (PDS) after cutting the quantum of rice.
This is according to the assurance of Umesh Katti, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, that local foodgrains would be supplied to BPL ration card-holders, rather than the staple of rice and wheat. Now, the 13 districts of Old Mysore region are getting 3 kg of ragi and 2 kg of rice instead of the 5 kg of rice given per unit earlier.
Mr. Katti had announced in the Legislative Assembly that the State government would distribute locally favoured foodgrains other than rice and wheat from April 1. The distribution of ragi has started, but jowar is yet to be included in the scheme.
The department has procured around five lakh tonnes of ragi, but has been able to buy only around 50,000 tonnes of jowar. “With this procurement, we can distribute ragi to 13 districts for 10 months. But the jowar collected can last only one month. That is why we are yet to start distributing jowar,” Mr. Katti told The Hindu.
“Our motto is to give people the grains that they normally eat. We have changed the eating habits of almost the whole State because of the distribution of rice and wheat, which are not the staple of either north or south Karnataka. The 13 districts of the north eat jowar and the southern districts eat ragi. Residents of the remaining four districts eat parboiled rice or red rice. We want to introduce local grains for all the regions, slowly,” he said.
“I’ve written to the Centre to increase the cost of procurement of jowar and fix separate prices for the Mal Dandi native variety, hybrid variety, and Kaniki or split grain. I have met the Union Food Minister and V.P. Sharma, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, and explained the problem. He has agreed to consider our demand,” the Minister said. “We have asked the Centre to divert some of the jowar collected from Maharashtra.”
Officials said the primary issue was pricing. “Foodgrains are procured with the funds pooled by the Centre and the State. The Centre contributes around 90% of the cost and the States pay around 10%. We have little say in the procurement. When the Centre allows us to buy local foodgrains using Central funds, we are supposed to distribute it within the State. There is a big difference between the prices that we offer through the Food Corporation of India and the market prices. While jowar growers sell for between ₹4,000 and ₹5,000 per quintal, we offer only ₹2,600 to ₹3,200. Jowar growers will sell only if we pay attractive prices. Otherwise, it will remain an empty promise,” said a senior official.
The official said the Centre gives around 28 lakh tonnes of rice every year. “That is more than we can consume. We only need around 18 lakh tonnes. If the Centre can reduce this quantity and instead allow us to buy jowar, red rice, and parboiled rice for the rest of the amount, we would be very happy. This request has been communicated to the Food Ministry.”
Opposition
The decision has not gone down well with all, especially in districts such as Shivamogga where rice rather than ragi is the staple. The government’s decision to replace rice with ragi has been opposed by many ration-card holders in the district. Nagaraj, of Salukodu in Sagar taluk, said rice was a common food in his family. “Already, the government has reduced the quantity of rice from 7 kg to 5 kg. A further decrease in quantity will affect us. We don’t want ragi. The government should continue with rice and increase the quantity,” he said. His family of four used to get 20 kg of rice a month.