New Delhi: The Delhi BJP has stalled home delivery of rations in the city to harass the poor, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged on Wednesday.
BJP-ruled municipal corporations in Delhi have inaugurated the scheme of providing dry rations to school children but distributed the same at only one MCD school, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed at a press conference here.
Responding to the allegation, the Delhi BJP said AAP leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Durgesh Pathak seemed to be in a daily competition to level baseless charges on the civic bodies.
At the press meet, Bhardwaj claimed there was no clue whether four lakh students of MCD schools in Delhi will get dry rations or not.
"It's shameful that BJP-ruled MCD has distributed dry rations to only one MCD school, and the tender for this scheme is yet to be floated," he added.
"Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, North MCD mayor and other BJP leaders inaugurated this scheme in a school
and that's about it. Don't they have any shame," Bhardwaj asked.
Bhardwaj said, "I would like to inform you all that 700 schools come under the purview of North MCD, where around four lakh students are enrolled. They have denied these students their right; only 300 students were provided with ration, pictures were clicked and a press release was sent, all of this without any tender. I would like to ask Adesh Gupta where he gets this shamelessness from, a scheme for which the tender has not been floated, was inaugurated, and now there is no clue about whether four lakh students will be able to access dry ration or not."
Responding to these charges, North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash in an official statement said that the Aam Aadmi Party was spreading confusion about its dry ration scheme under the mid-day meal programme.
Prakash said that the process of procuring dry ration is under process and when the process is complete ration distribution
will be done in all the schools as per plan. He said that every work will be completed in a transparent manner and the whole process is going on as per rules. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, however, said ration distribution to children in North Delhi Municipal Corporation schools has been started using unutilised rations from the mid-day meal scheme for which no tender is required. Tenders will be floated for the scheme after April, he said.