CM slams Centre over cancellation of ration cards

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the Prime Minister’s Office has “pressurised” officials in the Delhi administration to cancel around three lakh ration cards in the national Capital, because of which the poor are struggling to get food and rations.

On Thursday, the Chief Minister shared a video report by a TV news channel in his Twitter handle which showed families, whose names were struck off the list of ration beneficiaries.

In the video, Harjeet Kaur, a woman living in south Delhi’s Savitri Nagar village with her family for the past eight years said that on many occasions, her children had to sleep hungry because they had no food in their home.

“I have been taking ration for many months. But ever since the fingerprint scanner system came in, I have not been able to avail my share of the ration. Now, suddenly, they (the central government) sent me a notice that my ration card has been cancelled,” the woman claimed in the report.

In a tweet accompanying the video, Kejriwal wrote, “Despite strong objections by the Delhi government, the Prime Minister’s office created pressure on the officers to cancel ration cards. Now, look how the poor are suffering. The PMO should not have cancelled the ration cards.”

Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj had flayed the Bharatiya Janata Partyled central government for “defending officers responsible for large-scale corruption in ration distribution system in Delhi.”

“It was the responsibility of Food Commissioner’s officials to conduct a door-to-door survey to ensure genuine ration card beneficiaries were not denied their right,” the AAP MLA had said.