Delhi govt says rejection of doorstep ration delivery scheme discriminatory

Delhi food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain on Monday wrote to the Union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, Piyush Goel. He said that doorstep delivery of ration has been implemented by other state governments also.

New Delhi: The Delhi government has asked the Centre to withdraw a letter dated October 8 in which the latter refused to approve the doorstep delivery of ration scheme in the national capital, and added that similar schemes have already been implemented by other state governments.

Last week, the Delhi government sent the file on doorstep delivery of ration to the LG for approval once again. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Delhi food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain on Monday wrote to the Union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, Piyush Goyal. He said that Delhi government was being meted out “discriminatory treatment”.

“I wonder why Delhi is being singled out for discriminatory treatment and objections are being raised to prevent the implementation of a scheme which is undeniably and irrefutably in public interest and will subserve the needs of the most downtrodden and marginalised sections of the society. Several other states such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have already rolled out home delivery of ration. It has repeatedly been pointed out in our letters in the past and it is once again reiterated that the scheme is completely in accord with the relevant provisions of the NFSA (National Food Security Act),” Hussain said.

Last week, the Delhi government sent the file on doorstep delivery of ration to the LG for approval once again. This came after the Delhi high court on September 27 allowed the government to curtail supplies to the Fixed Price Shops commensurate to number of customers who have opted for doorstep delivery of ration.

Hussain said that it was unfortunate that the petitioner, Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers Sangh (DSRDS), was trying to overreach the court’s order, and doing so amounts to “committing contempt of court”.

“We, therefore, request you to withdraw the letter under reply, lest an impression be created that the central government is party to the attempt of the petitioner to obstruct and overreach orders passed by the High Court,” Hussain said.

The doorstep delivery of the ration scheme has been stalled due to differences between the Delhi government and the Centre. The scheme was to be launched on March 25. But the Union food and consumer affairs ministry wrote to the Delhi government on March 19 objecting to the use of the term “mukhyamantri (chief minister)” for the scheme involving the distribution of food grains allocated under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The Centre also said that any change in the delivery mechanism requires an amendment in NSFA that can be done only by Parliament.