NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the Delhi government has once again sent the file related to doorstep delivery of ration scheme to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for his perusal.
Earlier this month, the Aam Aadmi Party government had claimed that the scheme was rejected by L-G contending that the Centre’s approval was not sought for it and there was a pending case in the court.
According to sources, the chief minister has again sent the file to the L-G and said that it was according to the law and the objections raised by the Centre earlier have been addressed.
Kejriwal has stressed that the Centre’s directions have been followed and claimed that it was wrong to “stop” the scheme during the coronavirus pandemic, sources added.
A huge controversy had broken out after the Aam Aadmi Party and BJP started attacking each other regarding the scheme.
Delhi government had questioned as to why the scheme had been stopped by the Centre through the L-G, while the BJP hit back saying that Kejriwal was free to run his own scheme but could not do so by procuring food grains from the Centre.
For the past two weeks both have locked horns over the issue. Kejriwal even appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a letter seeking approval for the scheme.
Kejriwal urged Modi to allow the scheme in “national interest”. Conceptualised a few years ago the scheme, which was given Cabinet approval in 2018, has been stuck since then.
As per an internal note, the Delhi government has tried to explain that there is an “urgent” need to approve and then implement the scheme, keeping in mind the pandemic, as Fair Price Shops which are located in congested areas lead to crowding, exposing people to the virus.
There are around 70 lakh ration card holders in the national capital.