Centre blocks Delhi govt’s plan to deliver ration at doorstep
NEW DELHI: The Centre has once again “blocked” the Delhi government’s ambitious doorstep delivery of ration scheme days ahead of its launch with Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal rejecting the scheme, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office said in a statement on Saturday. The L-G’S office, however, said Baijal did not “reject” the scheme and only “advised for the constitutional scheme of things to be followed in letter and spirit”.
“The Delhi government’s revolutionary doorstep delivery of ration scheme has been stalled by the central government just days before it was to be launched across the national capital.
The scheme, which would have benefitted more than 7.2 million beneficiaries has hit a roadblock again. After accepting all suggestions of the central government, Delhi government had sent the file to the L-G for his final approval on May 24, after which its immediate rollout was scheduled. But the L-G has returned the file saying the scheme cannot be implemented in Delhi,” the chief minister’s office said in a statement.
This is the second time this year that the scheme has been stalled due to differences between the
Delhi government and the Centre. The scheme was to be launched on March 25, but the Union food and consumer affairs ministry wrote to the Delhi government on March 19 raising two objections to the scheme — the use of the term “mukhyamantri (chief minister)” for a scheme involving the distribution of food grains allocated under the National Food Security Act, and that any change in the delivery mechanism requires an amendment in NSFA that can be done only by Parliament. The Delhi government, on March 24, passed a Cabinet decision to remove the name “Mukhyamantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojna” for the scheme and to implement doorstep delivery of ration as part of the existing NFS Act, 2013.
The L-G cited two “invalid reasons” to reject the scheme which shows that his decision is “politically motivated”, claimed Hussain. “The L-G has rejected the scheme on two grounds – that it is not approved by the central government, and that there’s an ongoing court case on the scheme. No approval to launch such a scheme is required as per existing law. We also changed the name of the scheme according to their letter dated May 19. What further approval is required?”, the minister said.