BJP slams CM Arvind Kejriwal for food security delay

New Delhi: The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, on Saturday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has totally failed to frame and notify rules for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) even after five years of its enactment.

According to Mr Gupta, NFSA guarantees provision of subsidised ration through the targeted public distribution system (PDS) to about two-thirds of the nation’s population. For this, the state governments are supposed to frame and notify rules and implement them.

“The Delhi high court had directed the Arvind Kejriwal government a year ago to implement provisions of the National Food Security Act in a time-bound manner by framing rules and notifying them. No deserving and eligible individual should be left out of PDS,” said Mr Gupta.

He claimed that there is no legal backing for guidelines made by the Delhi government — as it has not framed and promulgated rules to ensure accountability and transparency — to establish a grievance redressal mechanism.

NFSA has provisions for setting up of State Food Commission and for appointment of district grievance redressal officers. The law also requires mandatory periodic social audits to ensure accountability.

Mr Gupta demanded that the Kejriwal government take all possible steps to implement the NFSA in accordance with the directions of the Delhi high court so that no deserving and eligible person is deprived of ration.

Referring to the distressing incident of death due to starvation of three children in the national capital, he said that Delhi government should take all possible steps to ensure that no one in the city becomes a victim of starvation.