Hyderabad: CPI secretary and Kothagudem MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao questioned the civil supplies department whether it was aware of the Centre’s plans to discontinue the public distribution system (PDS) with direct benefit transfer (DBT) of money to beneficiaries in its place.
State civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy replied saying he did not have any idea, but clarified that the state government had no such plans.
Calling Uttam “Bhola Shankar“, Kunamneni, hoped the issuance of new ration cards would be done at a saturation mode, just like the way schemes like housing, pensions and ration card; he hoped all those eligible for the scheme would be covered.
Reminding the House of nine ingredients distributed as a package to ration card beneficiaries in the past, he suggested that the scheme be reintroduced.
He also sought to know whether the state government was aware of a PDS recycling chain operating in Telangana, where rice given to beneficiaries for Rs 1 per kg is sold for Rs 7 to an intermediary who then sells it to Andhra Pradesh and even China.
He sought to know if millers hoarding tonnes of rice without delivering it to the government continued.
He suggested the state government put another quality mark like Agmark on the food products so that quality could be maintained.
Disputing deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s claim that the state government was making payments for salaries on the first of every month, Sambasiva Rao said that it was true only in the case of permanent government employees.
He said that the municipal and gram panchayat workers and mid-day meal workers in Anganwadi centres weren’t getting their salaries for the past 3 months.
“These are the real people who deserve timely payment. When they hear the deputy chief minister making such claims, they are laughing and asking when did they receive their salaries,” he said.
He reminded that such grass-root level workers were more than the government employees in number.
“In an attempt to question each other why they have taken loans, somewhere the logic is missing. You are the opposition and you have the right to protest. When you wore auto driver uniform I was happy. When you wore red scarf around your necks I felt happy. Do those kind of things, but also show that in coming together to fight along with other parties with the Centre to secure funds for the state government. We will welcome it,” he said.
“Should we pay interest ad principal for old loans or not,” he asked, concluding with French economist Thomas Piketty’s quote on India, “from British Raj to Billionaires’ Raj…,” also hoping that the governments would at least eradicate minimum inequality if not in entirety.
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