CHANDIGARH: Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi, asking Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to get his “facts right”, said that the Central Government has not removed even a single beneficiary from the 1.41 crore names approved under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in Punjab.
Pralhad Joshi said that the Union Government has only asked the state government to recheck beneficiaries based on the inclusion criteria so that deserving claimants get the benefit. In a post on X, Joshi wrote, “Bhagwant Mann ji needs to get the facts right.”
“Firstly, the mandatory eKYC of beneficiaries was directed by the Supreme Court. The Centre is merely asking the states to implement the same. Multiple extensions (three extensions) have been given to the Punjab government to do the same,” he wrote.
The post further read, “Secondly, Punjab has 1.41 crore beneficiaries under the NFSA-2013. And as per the NFSA 2013, it is the responsibility of the state government to identify eligible beneficiaries based on their own exclusion and inclusion criteria. The Central Government has no role in this.”
“Thirdly, the Central Government has not reduced even a single beneficiary from the approved 1.41 crore beneficiaries. The Central Government has merely asked to do a recheck on the beneficiaries based on the inclusion criteria (data points collected from multiple sources like CBDT, MCA, etc. have been shared) set by the Punjab Government. This way, deserving beneficiaries who were not part of this scheme (if any) may be added,” it stated.
Joshi said, “I repeat, 1.41 crore beneficiaries from Punjab will get free food grains. There will not be a single reduction in that number. Instead of pointing fingers, the Punjab government needs to support the Central Government’s pursuit in ensuring no poor is left behind.”
Joshi made these remarks after CM Mann claimed that the BJP-led Union Government had asked the state to delete the names of more than eight lakh ration card holders in Punjab.
Mann had criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their alleged anti-people stance aimed at depriving 55 lakh citizens of the state from free food grains under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
He had said that out of a total of 1.53 crore ration cards in the state, the BJP-led government had conspired to discontinue free ration being given to 55 lakh poor people.
He alleged that by making an excuse of not having KYC, the Centre had already stopped free ration for 23 lakh poor in July this year and now they have threatened to discontinue this benefit from 32 lakh more individuals from September 30 onwards.