Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who launched the free rice scheme for families below poverty line (BPL) here on Friday, vowed to make the State hunger-free.

BPL families, who earlier got 30 kilograms of rice at Rs 1 a kilogram under the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, will now get a minimum of 5 kilograms and maximum of 25 kilograms a month free of cost.

Apart from foodgrains, the families would also be able to obtain palm oil for cooking purposes at Rs 25 a kilogram and iodised salt at Rs 2 a kilogram through fair price shops.

Launching the scheme by distributing free rice to some beneficiaries in front of the Vidhana Soudha in the city, Siddaramaiah said a similar programme to distribute rice at a subsidised price of Rs 15 a kilogram and wheat at Rs 5 a kilogram for BPL families would be launched from June 1.

The Chief Minister said that 23.6 per cent of the State’s population was poor compared to other southern States — Andhra Pradesh (21 per cent), Tamil Nadu (17 per cent) and Kerala (12 per cent).

“That is why we want to work vigorously to remove hunger from the State,” he added.

The free rice scheme would benefit over 1 crore families and would require 2.93 lakh tonnes of food grains for distribution to the needy families across the entire State, the Chief Minister said.

It would cost the exchequer as much as Rs 2,400 crore annually.

The State government  was planning to offer jowar and ragi as well under the free foodgrain scheme in the coming days.

Referring to critics who said that the freebie culture would make beneficiaries lazy, Siddaramaiah responded that the people getting the free goods deserved it.

“Let those who have toiled for centuries to have just two square meals a day take some rest and relax themselves a bit now.”

“Only those who have suffered the effects of poverty would understand the need for food security for the downtrodden,” he said.