New Delhi, 22nd June 2023: Amid a dispute over the state rice scheme, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He told reporters before the meeting that he was paying a courtesy call but would also discuss the rice issue with Amit Shah.
This comes as the Centre suspended the sale of rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to all state governments on June 13, responding to inflationary pressures.
This decision has impacted several states, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which run free rice programmes for needy people. They must now purchase the grains from the open market or other states at a higher price.
What has irritated the Karnataka government is that the Centre abruptly ceased selling rice just a day after granting the state government permission to purchase grain from the central pool for the Anna Bhagya plan.
Mr Siddaramaiah, who has been chief minister for one month in his second term, also made a courtesy call on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
