New Delhi: After the Centre on Friday put a spanner in the works of the Delhi government's launch of its flagship doorstep delivery of ration scheme, senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the Centre should not interfere in such matters as it was against the people's mandate and goes against the good of the people.
He said stopping the scheme four to five days before its launch was highly unfortunate and saddening.
"The Central government must immediately withdraw this direction and allow the Delhi government to launch the scheme. He said that the Delhi government has not taken a single penny for this scheme from the Centre and if such a scheme prevented rampant corruption, the Centre shouldn't take umbrage," he added.
Explaining why the Delhi government was set on launching the scheme from Seemapuri, the AAP MP said, "The CM has worked in the area a lot... he knew that the ration dealers get very little commission, which is why they indulge in corruption. Earlier the commission for the ration dealers was just 35 paise but the Kejriwal Government increased it to Rs 2. This is the highest commission for the ration dealers across India. The central government still provides 35 paise as commission."
"Despite the increase in the commission of the ration dealers, there were several complaints from the poor that in Delhi the ration shops do not open regularly, which leads to the poor suffering a lot. To get just five kgs of ration a poor person needs to stand in the queue from the morning, leaving his work. Taking cognizance of the situation, for the last three to four years, the Delhi government developed the scheme of home delivery of ration. Under this scheme, ration is packed by the Delhi government and delivered to the people," he continued.
Bhardwaj said that the Central government and the food and civil supply ministry of the central government were fully aware of this scheme and its details. "It is the best scheme for the poor because they're able to receive ration without any hurdle. This scheme would have prevented rampant corruption. We have less than a week to launch this scheme and now the Centre has written to us asking to stop this scheme. I don't know why the Centre has a problem if the corruption in the ration distribution system stops."