BJP IS HANDIN-GLOVE WITH RATION MAFIA, ALLEGES AAP
‘By welcoming cancellation of ration cards, BJP has exposed its anti-poor stand’
NEW DELHI: The AAP alleged that by planning to cancel the ration cards, the officials have helped the ration mafia with the backing of the BJP. The allegation came a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the move a “deliberate act of defiance” at the hands of officers of the Food department. “It would cause tremendous hardship and could also prove to be fatal to human lives, a situation which no responsible government can afford to occur,” said Kejriwal.
Earlier, the CM said, “The recent episode of the unfortunate death of three children in Mandawali due to hunger/ non-availability of food is a case in point. It is apprehended that due to the illegal cancellation of ration cards without following due process of law by the officers of the Department, such incidents occurring in other parts of Delhi cannot be ruled out for which the Food Commissioner would be personally and solely responsible.”
AAP'S chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “BJP is hand-in-glove with the ration mafia and its stand welcoming the cancellation of ration cards has exposed its anti-poor character. It is extremely shocking that the BJP is defending the officers responsible for the large-scale corruption going on in ration distribution system in Delhi for many years.”
He also asked, “Why are the BJP, their appointed LG and the concerned officers silent on the primary question that even if a single ration card was found to be fake – then which employee/ officer is responsible for it? When were such ration cards made? What action was taken against officers and the then Sheila Dikshit Government?”
The leader said that what is further shocking is that in the month of April, the Delhi government had detected a scam and had asked LG to probe the ration scam in which multiple ration cards were registered on a single mobile number and such cards were found to be in thousands. “Aam Aadmi Party challenges the BJP and their LG to make public what action was taken on the evidence provided by the elected government of Delhi ?,” said Bhardwaj.
He added that BJP is senselessly talking about e-pos without being aware of the ground realities about hardships faced by poor people on the ground due to Aadhar and E-POS failures.
“When a large number of people faced problems in getting their ration due to E-POS, the concerned officers tried to bluff in the month of March stating that they have given the OTP option. This option led to a scam which was detected by the government in April,” said Bharadwaj. AAP also observed that there is a large population of poor families who have migrated from states like Bihar and UP to Delhi for work as daily wagers, maids, drivers etc. They stay in rented rooms in urban villages, unauthorized colonies etc and keep changing their rented accommodation.
“After a failure of POS devices, their ration was suspended and they were asked to submit proofs like current electricity bill of their earlier accommodations as mentioned in their ration cards. How can poor people keep updating their Adhar Cards and other documents while they change their rented accommodation every 1-2 years? BJP should understand such practical difficulties of the poor. This led to large number of genuine poor who have been denied ration permanently,” said Bharadwaj.