The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday demanded an independent probe into the deletion of 10.70 lakh blue cards of beneficiaries under the Atta-Dal Scheme, which were recently restored by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
SAD, in a statement, demanded that the beneficiaries, who were left out of the scheme for two years, should be compensated.
Last week, the Punjab cabinet restored the benefits of 10.70 lakh blue cards, which were deleted after the formation of the AAP government in March 2022.
Senior party leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said: “It is shocking that the AAP government denied foodgrains given under the scheme to 40 lakh people for two years and has now restored the facility on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections due to deep resentment at the grassroots level”.
Asserting that only an independent probe could determine the reasons for the denial of this facility to nearly 40 lakh people, Cheema alleged: “It is clear that people who did not vote for AAP were penalised”.
Holding chief minister Bhagwant Mann responsible for this injustice, Cheema said Mann had himself announced that rich persons were availing benefits under this scheme while withdrawing the benefits of the blue card holders, but the government has now restored the benefits to the same persons
{{/usCountry}}Holding chief minister Bhagwant Mann responsible for this injustice, Cheema said Mann had himself announced that rich persons were availing benefits under this scheme while withdrawing the benefits of the blue card holders, but the government has now restored the benefits to the same persons
{{/usCountry}}“The chief minister should tell what action has been taken against those responsible for denying this basic facility to the people. The 10.7 lakh families should be monetarily compensated for the same in a time-bound manner,” Cheema further said in the statement.