Amid a political slugfest over the Centre disallowing states from buyingwheatandricefrom the stock held by the , the government on Thursday s aid the decision was taken to ensure enough stock of foodgrains to meet requirements and for market interventions to help curb price rise and not aimed at any particular state.
TheKarnatakagovernment, which has promised to give 10kg foodgrain to the poor every month, has accused the Centre of hatching a conspiracy to derail the free rice scheme in the state. Besides Karnataka,Tamil Nadu,West Bengaland Telangana are some of the states that would be impacted by this decision as they provide free foodgrains to people who are not covered under the National Food SecurityAct (NFSA). The central government provides 5kg of free foodgrain per month to nearly 80 crore poor under the NFSA.