Political fight escalates on ration delivery plan

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the Capital’s government to launch doorstep ration delivery, citing how crowded shops could potentially turn into Covid-19 “superspreader” zones and adding that the CM’s name had already been dropped from the scheme.

On Saturday, Kejriwal’s office said the Centre again “blocked” the Delhi government’s ambitious scheme days ahead of its launch, with Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal rejecting the scheme. 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”.

“If pizza, burgers, smartphones and garments can be delivered to doorsteps of people, then why not ration?” Kejriwal said in a digital news briefing on the contentious issue on Sunday.

He said the scheme should be implemented across the country in view of Covid-19.

“In Delhi, a doorstep delivery of ration scheme was ready to be launched next week. All necessary tenders were completed, and arrangements were in place. It would have relieved millions of people in Delhi from crowds and long queues outside ration shops. For the last 75 years, the ration distribution system across the country has been looted by the ration mafia, leading to leak

ages in the system that deprive poor people of the food grains they are entitled to. Doorstep delivery would have been a revolutionary initiative,” said Kejriwal, citing his own days as a social activist and being allegedly attacked by people for his fight against “ration mafia”.

Delhi currently has around 1.78 million ration card holder households which, according to government records, translate to 7.2 million beneficiaries. Ration to them is currently distributed through a network of 2,000-odd fair price shops.

“The proposal has been turned down citing no approval from the central government. It is untrue. We have written to the central government five times, seeking their approval in this regard. Going by the law, we do not need any approval from the central government in this regard. State governments are capable of implementing such schemes. In March, you asked us to remove mukhyamantri (chief minister) from the name of the scheme, we obliged. We followed all your conditions,” said Kejriwal.

A senior official in the central government said: “The Government of India has not asked the Delhi government to not distribute the ration the way they want to. They can do so under any other scheme. The Government of India can also provide additional food grains for that, as per notified rates. The central government is supposed to help the poor and the marginalised in close coordination with states. But the Delhi government’s proposed plan disrupts the existing pan-India model in which the National Food Security Act (NFSA) is operating successfully. The country cannot have 36 models of implementing the NFSA. The central government raised a few queries on Delhi government’s plan to charge processing fees under the doorstep delivery model, and lack of clarity regarding number of commercial entities that will be engaged in the public distribution system beyond the fair price shops. We did not get clear answers so far.”

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 (NFSA), 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.

“I am not doing this for credit. Please allow implementation of doorstep delivery of ration scheme and I will myself tell everyone that it was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Kejriwal said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the Centre has forestalled a “big scam” that the Delhi’s AAP government could have committed by “diverting” subsidised food grains. “If Arvind Kejriwal wants to distribute ration outside the national programmes under the central government, he can purchase grains at notified rates and do it. But no state has the right to tweak a central scheme being implemented uniformly across the country,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

He added: “Arvind Kejriwal does not see potential superspreaders when it comes to supporting large gathering of farmers at Delhi’s borders and misleading them against the central government, but he sees potential superspreaders in ration shops.”

The scheme was first approved in March 2018 but could not be implemented because of numerous administrative issues, largely revolving around methodologies allowed and not allowed under the National Food Security Act. It also led to a tussle between the elected government and the L-G, leading to a demonstration outside the L-G’s office by top leaders in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The matter did not witness progress despite the Supreme Court’s July 2018 judgment that said the L-G was bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government in Delhi, other than matters involving land, police and public order which come under the Centre’s domain. Before the 2020 assembly elections, the AAP government gave the project a fresh push.

This time, said Kejriwal at Sunday’s press briefing, the government has cited a case by ration shop owners that is being heard in the Delhi high court. “When even the high court did not impose a stay on the scheme, why did you (central government) impose a stay on it? If you choose to stand with the ration mafia, who will stand with poor people? Interestingly, the central government is also a party in this case. However, the central government’s counsel did not raise a single objection against the scheme in the (high) court,” said Kejriwal.

He added: “These are difficult times. People fear getting infected because of crowds outside ration shops. There are chances of a third wave of Covid-19 which is likely to affect more children. What if people get infected in queues outside ration shops? These ration shops are potential superspreaders. The doorstep delivery scheme can stop that from happening…

We must remember that the ration does not belong to the Aam Aadmi Party or the Bharatiya Janata Party, it belongs to the common people. It is our collective responsibility to stop largescale theft of ration.”

“Also, it does not leave a good impression on people,” said the Delhi chief minister, adding: “The central government is fighting with Mamata didi in West Bengal, the government of Jharkhand, Lakshadweep, and now people of Delhi. They are also fighting against farmers. Why is the central government fighting everyone? We are all Indians. We are not supposed to fight with one another. We are supposed to join hands and fight against Covid-19. People want to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi joining hands with Kejriwal in enabling delivery of ration to the doorstep of 7.2 million ration beneficiaries This scheme is aimed at welfare of the nation. There should be no politics in anything aimed at the welfare of the nation. Please help us.”

“Governments so far have forced people to wait in ration lines for 75 years. Let us ensure sir that they don’t have to wait in ration lines for another 75 years. They will never forgive us,” he added.

Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, which governs PDS, the approximately 1.78 million ration card holding households in Delhi are divided into three categories – priority households (PR), priority state households (PRS), and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families.

Rebutting the Delhi government’s stance on the issue, the L-G’s office said in a statement issued on Saturday that the file pertaining to the “notification on home delivery of processed and packaged ration under TDPS” was “returned for reconsideration to the CM by the L-G”.