Delhi Lieutenant-Governor may stall AAP govt proposal

New Delhi: The AAP government and lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal are all set for another face-off over the recent Cabinet decision granting approval for home delivery of ration under Targeted Public Distribution System to all its beneficiaries in the national capital. The cabinet, chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had recently given a go-ahead to the scheme despite objections raised by the law and finance departments of the city government.

Sources said that the Cabinet decision, which is pending L-G’s approval,   may not be cleared as the two key departments had raised serious objections over the implementation of the home delivery scheme. The two departments had said that the home delivery of ration cannot be made as the scheme has to be implemented in accordance with Central rules. The state governments provide subsidised wheat, rice and sugar under the Targeted Distribution System in accordance with Central rules.

Sources said if Raj Niwas does not approve the city Cabinet decision on home delivery of ration, there are chances that the AAP leaders may go all out to raise their voice against any such decision. The AAP government has already expressed its serious concern over the decrease in the number of ration card holders.

The number of ration card holders in Delhi has gone down from 30 lakh to 19 lakh in the past few years. The issue had hit headlines when two AAP legislators questioned  chief secretary Anshu Prakash over the contentious issue and also alllegedly assaulted him in  chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. It is learnt that the Cabinet had accorded approval to the proposal of the department of food, supply and consumer affairs for providing doorstep delivery of wheat, rice and sugar to eligible beneficiaries of Targeted Public Distribution System under National Food Security Act 2013.

The Cabinet had taken this decision by over-ruling the objections raised by the law and finance departments.

The project for doorstep delivery of food grains is primarily aimed at reforming the Targeted PDS in public interest. The AAP government is committed to ensure that eligible beneficiaries receive their due ration in a transparent manner with maximum ease. Aadhaar-based identification of ration holders was one such reform, which has faced teething problems resulting in ration beneficiaries facing unforeseen trouble. Given this experience, doorstep delivery of ration of the cabinet is said to be aimed at removing the problems faced by ration beneficiaries.

A senior officer said that the attention of the Cabinet was also drawn to the extant laws and guidelines issued by the ministry of consumer affairs, Government of India, asking state governments to ensure home delivery of ration to the beneficiaries experiencing difficulty in getting their entitled quantum of subsidised foodgrain due to old age and  physical disability.

The city cabinet had also decided that the service provider for home delivery of ration would  be selected in a transparent manner through open bidding. A senior AAP functionary said that the cabinet’s proposal was also  aimed at providing a higher level of transparency in delivery system through inbuilt online monitoring system which would  weed out corruption and diversion of food grains. It will save time and resources of ration beneficiaries of Delhi.