Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday accused the BJP-led central government of planning to remove over 8 lakh ration card holders from the state’s records under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), but asserted that his government will not allow it.
Speaking to the media, Mann questioned the criteria used by the Centre to identify beneficiaries for deletion. He said that Punjab recently received a report from the central government recommending that the names of 8,02,493 ration card holders be struck off as allegedly ineligible. “If we consider an average of four members per family, this could impact at least 32 lakh people in the state,” Mann said.
The Chief Minister criticised the Centre’s benchmark for exclusion, which targets beneficiaries who own a four-wheeler or more than 2.50 acres of land. “If a ration card holder gets a government job and moves to the city, will the rest of his family not get ration? If one family member owns a car while others do not, what is the fault of the rest?” Mann asked.
He reiterated that his government will not allow the deletion of a single ration card. Mann further noted that Punjab currently has 1.53 crore beneficiaries under the NFSA who are entitled to 5 kg of wheat per month at Rs 2 per kg. “The Centre claims many of these beneficiaries are fake,” he added.
Mann said he has written to the Centre requesting six months for beneficiary verification and promised to raise the issue at the national level. “This is the AAP government, and we always stand by the poor,” he said.
With PTI inputs