Re. 1 for a kilo of rice? No problem, says Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati, February 6, 2019:

In the 2019 Assam budget, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has found a new “Brahmastra” to defeat the problem of hunger in the state. He has announced a new scheme, “ANNA- Affordable Nutrition & Nourishment Assistance Yojana”. Under this scheme, the government will provide rice at a further subsidized rate of 1 rupee per kilo which is expected to benefit 53 lakh households in the state. The scheme is expected to come into effect from March onwards.

According to a survey, Assam holds 7th position in the below poverty line (BPL) criteria in the country as nearly 31.98% of the people in Assam are below the poverty line. Thus, it can be assumed that many of the people of the state are expected to benefit under this new scheme.

An expert committee under C Rangarajan, former chairperson of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, had earlier set a poverty line benchmark of Rs 27 for rural India and Rs 33 for Urban India. Thus, in a country where many people struggle to afford two square meals a day, schemes such as this are expected to boost nutrition in the country.

The question that now arises is whether the Government that is assured of Governance for only 4 more months with elections looming, be able to provide affordable nutrition to 31.98% population? And how will the government work on filtering the rural and urban figures to distribute rice to the people of Assam at one rupee?