22 Lakh BPL Families Unlikely To Get Cash Immediately Under Anna Bhagya: Here's Why

Nearly 22 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) households are unlikely to get benefits under the Karnataka government's Anna Bhagya scheme immediately as they do not have bank accounts.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to launch the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) at around 5 pm on Monday evening.

Anna Bhagya, one of the five main election guarantees made by the Congress party during the assembly elections pledges to provide additional 5 kg of free rice to every member of a BPL household.

Of the total 1.28 crore ration cards registered in Karnataka under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, 99 per cent are seeded with Aadhaar numbers, of which 1.06 crore - making up 82 per cent of the pool - are linked with active bank accounts. Cash benefit will be transferred to these card holders, while the government will inform the remaining to open new accounts, PTI cited a government statement.

"A total of 1.27 crore ration cards have one member designated as Head of the Households (HoH). Cash will be transferred to the bank accounts of these HoH. Of them 94 per cent are women and five per cent are men," it added.

On July 10 at 5 pm, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will launch the much awaited scheme and in 15 days the entire money would be transferred into the account of the beneficiaries.

Of the 10 kg rice, five kg was given by the Centre to the BPL families but the Congress wanted to give an additional five kg.

However, due to the non-availability of rice, the Siddaramaiah government decided to pay money to each beneficiary every month at the rate of Rs 34 per kg up to five kg as a temporary solution.