Bengaluru, Nov 3 (IANS): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Karnataka unit on Thursday alleged that rice meant for poor is being "smuggled" to Goa and Maharashtra.

Talking to mediapersons here, AAP leader and senior advocate Brijesh Kalappa claimed: "Anna bhagya rice, which belongs to the poor, is being sold in the black market. Tonnes of Anna bhagya rice is being smuggled to neighbouring states like Goa and Maharashtra."

If the government does not quickly curb the irregularities, protests would be launched, he said.

"Instead of taking strict action against the guilty, the government is mum after taking a 40 per cent commission. The poor are suffering due to the government's greed for commission," he alleged.

"This is an anti-people and corrupt government that is sacrificing the interest of the people for the sake of money," he charged.

"In the last three years, more than 800 cases have been registered in connection with the black marketing of ration under the Anna Bhagya scheme.

"As many as 65 cases were reported in 2020-21, 472 in 2021-22 and over 300 in 2022-23 so far. Despite such a large number of cases being registered, the government has not brought any changes in the system to curb illegalities," said Brijesh Kalappa.

"Malnutrition and child mortality rates are on the rise in Karnataka due to the government's conspiracy with ration smugglers," he alleged.

According to the Department of Women and Child Development, 11,961 children in the state are severely malnourished and 3,64,614 children are moderately malnourished.

Karnataka's contribution is more for the drop in India's position in the Global Hunger Index to 107 which is worse than Pakistan's. The corrupt BJP government should be held responsible for this," Brijesh Kalappa said.