Bengaluru, Daily Mail 24 Online: In a significant policy shift, the Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to distribute Indira Food Kits (nutritional food kits) to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH) beneficiaries under the Anna Bhagya scheme, replacing the earlier provision of additional rice.
As per the new plan, beneficiaries will receive one Indira Food Kit per ration card instead of the additional 5 kg of rice. The Cabinet approved a budget reallocation of ₹6,119.52 crore from the ₹6,426 crore fund earlier earmarked for the rice distribution.
Each Indira Food Kit will include:
1 kg Toor dal (pigeon pea)
1 litre cooking oil
1 kg sugar
1 kg salt
Law Minister H.K. Patil said the decision was taken in response to increasing incidents of illegal transport and theft of Anna Bhagya rice.
Families with 1–2 members will get half a kilogram kit
Families with 3–4 members will get 1 kg kit
Families with five or more members will get 1.5 kg kit
Currently, there are 1.26 crore ration cards covering around 4.48 crore beneficiaries across the state.
### Distribution and Cost Details
1–2 member families: 53.22 lakh ration cards; each kit priced at ₹203.75; monthly expenditure ₹66.36 crore.
3–4 member families: About 2.26 crore beneficiaries; each kit priced at ₹407.50; monthly expenditure ₹256.88 crore.
5 or more members: 1.69 crore beneficiaries; each kit priced at ₹611.25; monthly expenditure ₹186.72 crore.
Overall, the government will incur an estimated ₹509.96 crore per month to cover 4.48 crore beneficiaries.
The new initiative will also result in substantial savings — while the earlier plan of distributing 5 kg of rice cost ₹6,426 crore annually, the Indira Food Kit scheme will cost ₹6,119 crore, saving the state approximately ₹306.48 crore per year.
