Despite HC's green signal, Centre again blocks Delhi's doorstep ration delivery

New Delhi: Despite the Delhi High Court green lighting the diversion of food grains for doorstep delivery of ration, the Centre on Saturday once again blocked the Delhi government from implementing the flagship scheme based on complaints of ration delears, whose arguments the High Court had earlier junked.

In a letter sent by the Union Ministry of Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution to the Department of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Delhi, it has been said that while distributing food grains to the eligible NFSA beneficiaries under TPDS, the Delhi government has to comply with the norms and provisions of NFSA Act 2013.

It has also been said that this department will not have any objection if the state government plans separately without adding the elements of NFSA food grains.

The letter says that the proposal under consideration with the Delhi government for home delivery does not meet the norms of NFSA and hence the Government of India does not allow it. It is noteworthy that the High Court refused to accept these submissions.

Lambasting the Central government, the Aam Aadmi Party chief spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the BJP has used the Centre as its own machinery and blocked the Kejriwal government's doorstep delivery of ration scheme. The BJP-led Centre has done this despite the High Court's nod for the ration delivery scheme, where the court had noted there was no practical reason to block the scheme.

Bharadwaj further asked if this was not contempt of court on part of the Centre.

Bharadwaj further questioned the mallices of the BJP and said how can someone stoop so low that they do not want

to see a poor man get ration in their home with dignity? He added that the BJP is making it evident that they have

zero respect for the underprivileged.

The BJP-led Central government has written a letter to the Kejriwal government saying that they will not allow the Delhi government to go ahead with the doorstep delivery of ration scheme. This letter came after the Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers' Sangh had made a representation to the Delhi L-G against the scheme.

"The Centre has gone against the High Court's orders after the Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers Sangh made a representation to the L-G. These are the same people who had gone to court against the Kejriwal government and witnessed the court green signal to the ration delivery scheme. It is astonishing that the BJP is working at the behest of a group of ration dealers and is even willing to go against court for them", Bharadwaj said.

"The Centre has made no objection in the court but in the letter they have said that it goes against NFSA guidelines. First, if the Centre thought so, why did it not say the same in the court? Second, the High Court had clarified that the ration delivery scheme does not go against the NFSA guidelines. All of this has been fuelled by BJP's political malice," he further added.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sent the file to L-G again after the High Court ruling.