Centre should take over Delhi’s ration distribution system: BJP
The Hindu
New Delhi
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday alleged that the Delhi government has not given ration to the 72.78 cardholders in November and December, and demanded that the Central government should take over the public distribution system (PDS) in the city.
Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said the PDS in the national capital had come to a “complete standstill due to the negligence of the Kejriwal government”, asking the Centre to take over the process or transfer the subsidy directly into the consumers’ bank accounts.
“As many as 72.78 lakh cardholders of Delhi did not get ration in November and December. This ration was not lifted from the godowns. The additional ration issued by the Central government under ‘One Nation One Card’ also did not reach the poor of Delhi who have come from other states and are living in Delhi,” Mr. Sachdeva said at a press conference here.
The BJP leader also alleged that ration vendors in the city had not received their commission for six months. “They should have received the commission in advance and the Central government has already given this amount to Delhi,” he added.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, said the Centre was providing free ration to the poor under various schemes such as the National Food Security Act, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, and ‘One Nation One Card’ scheme.
“The Central government also pays the cost of transportation and commission of ration vendors to deliver ration from the godowns to the vendors. The Delhi government only needs to lift the ration from the godowns and to deliver it to the ration vendors,” he said, adding that “more than 34,000 quintals of rice from Mayapuri, Okhla and Pusa godowns and 10,000 quintals of wheat from Mayapuri godown, sent for the month of November, were not lifted”.
He added that the Centre had given Delhi ₹24.89 crore for vendors’ commission in the last six months. “But the Delhi government suppressed that amount as well and out of that only Rs 14.55 crore were released,” Mr. Bidhuri said.
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