'Will roll out Griha Jyoti from July 1, Anna Bhagya delayed'

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddramaiah on Saturday said that his government is all set to roll out the Griha Jyoti scheme of providing free electricity to all households as announced from July first, but the implementation of another of its government flagship programmes of Anna Bhagya, 10 kg free rice to ration card holders, is likely to be delayed a few more days as it was making required arrangements to procure rice from various state governments and agencies.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, the chief minister said that the Chhattisgarh government has agreed to provide 1.5 lakh metric tons of rice, neighbouring Telangana government promises to supply paddy instead of rice, while the Punjab government assured to provide rice from the month of November as it does not have enough stock right now.

The government has also approached the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) to submit its quotation to the state.

Once they submit their quotation after deciding on a price, the State government will finalise the deal by Saturday evening or in two days after ensuring the quality of rice. The State needs around 2.29 lakh metric tons of rice for implementation of the scheme.

It has sufficient ragi and jowar stock, which will meet its requirement for only two months, he said. Ready to tackle floods Siddramaiah said that the State government has made all preparations to tackle monsoon rains, floods, drought and other natural calamities.

Sowing has been completed only in a few districts during this kharif season, which also began in other districts as now monsoon rains gained momentum after playin g hide and seek for the last few months.

Instructions have been given to all deputy commissioners to focus on easing the drinking water crisis besides ensuring quality seeds and fertilisers to farmers to take up sowing in the remaining areas.

Reacting to former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and other BJP leaders to launch a protest from July 3 both inside and outside the state legislature before the start of the session, Siddaramaiah hit back at them saying that opposition leaders have all the freedom to lodge a protest, but they do not have any moral right as they failed to implement such schemes.

His government has successfully implemented Shakhi scheme, the free bus ride for women, which has been receiving an overwhelming response across the State.

His govt is doing all to roll out the Griha Jyoti scheme from July 1, which will be launched from Kalaburgi. Gruha Jyoti, the free electricity scheme, is one of the five poll guarantees the now ruling Congress promised in its election manifesto, and it will be implemented from July 1.

The guarantee offers up to 200 units of electricity free of cost to domestic consumers. The scheme will be applicable only for domestic use and not commercial connections.

"The government will take into account the one-year average power consumption in the 2022-23 financial year and give free electricity for those totalling up to 10 per cent more than the average usage," he added.