AAP govt wanted to strike off 10 lakh households: Jakhar

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Saturday alleged that it was the AAP government that had two years ago decided to discontinue subsidised ration to over 10 lakh households but shelved the plan just ahead of the Lok Sabha poll last year.

Jakhar made the statement on a day Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he won’t allow the BJP-ruled Centre to delete any beneficiary under the National Food Security Act. A political row had erupted three days ago after the Centre asked the Punjab Government to verify the antecedents of 11 lakh “suspicious” cardholders under the scheme and remove them by September 30.

Under the scheme, the poor get subsidised foodgrains through the public distribution system.

Addressing reporters here, Jakhar said Mann “does not even know” that ration cards are issued by the state government, and ration distribution is also the state’s responsibility while the Centre only provides ration stock. He said in 2023, it was the AAP government that had “decided to remove 10.50 lakh beneficiary cards citing a survey, but later withdrew the decision just before the Lok Sabha elections”.

“Don’t blame the Centre for your own mistakes,” Jakhar said. The Punjab BJP chief also accused the AAP government of not letting benefits of central schemes reach people.

He said when the BJP decided to spread awareness about the schemes, they were stopped through police action against their public outreach programme. He said the government was “depriving people of their rights” as central schemes were not being made available at service centres.

He said in a BJP camp held at Fazilka’s Raipura on Friday, 65 persons received Ayushman Bharat health insurance cards, “despite attempts to block the access”.

“Additionally, 42 women filled forms under the Vishwakarma Yojana at the camp,” said Jakhar, a day after he was detained while heading to the camp. He was released five hours later.

“These camps aim to make people aware of schemes like Ayushman Bharat Health Yojana, PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Vishwakarma Yojana and other central schemes,” he said. Jakhar said around 8 lakh vehicle registrations in Punjab had been pending for months, forcing owners to run from office to office.

“We can even go door-to-door to inform people about these schemes but due to the hurdles created by the Punjab government, people are not getting facilities on time,” he alleged. He said over 8 lakh registration certificates (RCs) and an equal number of applications for driving licenses were pending in Punjab.