Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and the Union Territory’s bureaucracy are again on collision course. This time it’s for the cancellation of the bulk of ration cards.
Following the cancellation of 2.84 lakh ration cards in the Capital, Kejriwal warned of taking disciplinary action against the state food commissioner Mohanjeet Singh for doing the exercise ‘without any valid reason’.
Singh though refuted the charges and said that everything was done according to the process and only ‘ineligible’ holders of the ration cards were deleted. The chief minister’s office has released a statement that said the food commissioner cancelled the ration cards in spite of objections from the Delhi food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain.
“Since these officers do not report to the elected government, therefore they are working against the interests of the people of Delhi, which is a very serious matter. All such families and members in one go would be rendered hungry because of the insensitive, apathetic, hostile, inhuman attitude of the officers,” read the statement as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“Such acts of commission or omission make the acts of public servants suspicious. Their conduct may invite disciplinary action against the concerned officers,” the statement added.
Singh however said that it was one of the ‘first of its kind’ and is a method to save ration of crore of rupees by eradicating illegitimate ration card holders. The food commissioner also said that he had opted for e-POS (electronic point of sale) system which the Delhi government held back. It may be recalled that the Kejriwal government had said that the e-POS system was put on hold just because the internet wasn’t working properly and it created several issues.
Kejriwal had several run-ins with the bureaucrats which even resulted in the paralysation of the system following allegations of Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) MLAs beating up Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash in February this year.