NEW DELHI: The AAP on Wednesday hit out at the BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation for “delaying” the dry ration distribution scheme for students of municipal schools. Under the mid-day meal scheme, the students of schools run by Delhi government and municipal corporations are given cooked meal every day. As the schools were shut due to the Covid pandemic, it was decided to hand over dry rations t o their parents instead.
Referring to the alleged hold-up, AAP’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj termed the saffron outfit an “anti-poor” party and added that the party stalled home delivery of ration scheme only to “harass” the poor. Bhardwaj said the BJP-ruled civic body distributed dry ration only in one school and the tendering of the scheme was yet to take place. “Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash and other BJP leaders inaugurated the scheme in a school and that’s all.
The situation is so serious that there is no clue whether four lakh students of MCD schools will get dry ration or not. Yesterday, when our councillors raised the issue in the House, it came to light that the tender process for the delivery of ration has not yet begun. I feel that this is a matter of immense shame that Adesh Gupta inaugurated the scheme without even starting the tender process for the same. This is a fraud and shows the true colour of BJP,” said the AAP leader at a press conference.
“I would like to inform you all that 700 schools come under the purview of North DMC, where around four lakh students are enrolled. BJP has denied these students their right,” he said. Responding to the allegation, Praveen Shankar Kapoor, spokesperson of Delhi BJP, said the AAP has the habit of levelling baseless charges against MCDs on a daily basis.
“The distribution started in North MCD schools in right earnest by using unutilised ration of mid-day meal scheme for which no tender is required. For the next session starting from April 1, new tenders will be floated. Bhardwaj should stop misleading and tell Delhi why the ration distribution in Delhi government schools for students has been discontinued after just one month,” said Kapoor.
Conflicting claims
AAP said the BJP-ruled North MCD distributed dry ration only in one school and the tendering of the scheme was yet to take place. However, BJP countered this claiming distribution started by using unutilised ration of mid-day meal scheme for which no tender is required