Opposition slams Maharashtra govt for selling Patanjali products at seva kendras
The decision was announced via a government resolution; this is the first time a private company’s products will be sold by the state
The Opposition parties slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government over its decision to allow sale of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali products on its ‘Aaple Sarkar Seva Kendra’, its citizen facilitation centres.
The decision, which was announced via a government resolution (GR) on January 19, was taken without any formal agreement between the Maharashtra government and Patanjali. This is the first time where a private company’s products will be sold through government’s centres.
Senior bureaucrats defended the move saying that the decision was taken as per the Centre’s guidelines issued through its special purpose directives called the common service centre.
Former chief minister and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Ashok Chavan, called the government an “agent” of Patanjali. “The state government’s decision to sell Patanjali products makes it clear that it has become an agent of the company. The government should use his picture in its ‘Mi Labharthi’ (I am a beneficiary) advertisements,” Chavan said.
Pantanjali products have been listed as one of the services offered on the e-Seva centres which are set up to provide services such as Aadhaar, PAN Card, income and domicile certificates, and passport related documents to citizens. The state government’s decision comes after announcements that Patanjali has tied up with online giants Amazon, Flipkart and others .
Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil demanded that the GR be withdrawn immediately. “This is not a common man’s government, but that of a handful of rich ones. This decision to sell Patanajli products through the state’s e-Seva kendras strengthens our claim,” said Vikhe Patil.
Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik called the decision as a “violation” and accused the government of “favouritism”. This isn’t the first time a controversy surrounding the state and Patanjali has surfaced. Earlier, Sanjay Nirupam, chief of the Congress party’s Mumbai unit, had alleged that the state has allotted Ramdev’s company land in the Multi-Modal International Cargo Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), at a throwaway price. “The government is using its machinery to benefit certain companies that are close to the BJP,” Nirupam said.