NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday said that the Centre has once again blocked the AAP government’s doorstep delivery of ration scheme despite the Delhi high court’s nod.
The Centre has written a letter to the Delhi government saying that it will not allow it to go ahead with the scheme on the ground that it goes against National Food Security Act guidelines.
The letter came after Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers’ Sangh made a representation to the lieutenant governor against the scheme, claimed Bharadwaj.
“The BJP has lost all sense and morality and gone against a high court order that permitted the Kejriwal government to implement the doorstep delivery of ration scheme,” said Bharadwaj in a statement. “This scheme is not just a regular ambitious scheme that the government wants to implement. It is a gamechanger which has been supported by thousands of families. These families are eagerly waiting for this scheme to be implemented so they can get out of the shackles of the ration mafia, but BJP does not want that. It will totally stop ration theft and the arbitrary attitude of ration dealers.”
Commenting on Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers’ Sangh, Bharadwaj said: “These are the same people who had gone to court against the Kejriwal government and witnessed the court give the green signal to the scheme. It is astonishing that the BJP is working at the behest of a group of ration dealers and is even willing to go against the court for them. This points towards a clear nexus between the BJP and the ration mafia.”
He said the Centre had voiced no objection in court but in the letter they have said that the AAP government scheme goes against National Food Security Act (NFSA) guidelines. “First, if the Centre thought so, why did it not say the same in court? Second, the high court had clarified that the ration delivery scheme does not go against the NFSA guidelines. All of this has been fuelled by BJP’s political malice,” said Bharadwaj.
In the latest letter, the union ministry of food, consumer affairs and public distribution has told the department of food and civil supplies of the Delhi government that while distributing food grains among the eligible NFSA beneficiaries under the public distribution system, it has to comply with the norms and provisions of NFSA Act 2013. It has also said that the department will not have any objection if the state government draws up a separate plan without adding the elements of NFSA food grains. The letter says that the proposal under consideration with the Delhi government for home delivery does not meet the norms of NFSA and hence the Government of India would not allow it.
“It is noteworthy that the high court refused to accept these submissions,” Bharadwaj said. In the wake of the HC order, CM Arvind Kejriwal had recently sent the file of the scheme to LG for approval.
Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers’ Sangh president Shiv Kumar Garg said the association does not have any political affiliation. “We are only bothered about the livelihoods of 2000 ration dealers. The AAP government is unable to supply ration to the existing 2000 fair price shops. The ration for the two ongoing schemes should have been delivered to the fair price shops by October 1, but till now the ration for October has not been delivered. When the government is unable to provide ration to the 2000 dealers, then how can it provide ration to 17 lakh ration card holders,” asked Garg.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the AAP leader was making baseless allegations and added that neither the Centre nor BJP has any objection if the AAP government purchases ration and distributes it under the doorstep delivery scheme.
