PATNA: A political slugfest has erupted in Bihar over denial of government benefits, including cancellation of ration cards of those whose names had been deleted from the electoral roll ahead of state assembly elections held in November last year.
Media reports have quoted Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary as saying that people whose names had been deleted from the Bihar electoral roll would not be entitled to any government benefits, including rations and other schemes.
Reacting sharply to it, senior RJD leader and party spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said, “Our leader (Tejashwi Yadav) has been talking about denial of government benefits to SIR-deleted voters from the very beginning, and it is now coming true.”
He alleged that the state government wanted to deny benefits of state-run welfare schemes to reduce the number of existing beneficiaries. “After the West Bengal elections, our apprehension has proved true,” the RJD leader asserted.
The CM told the media that bank passbooks of those deleted in the SIR would also be cancelled in due course.
On the other hand, Bihar food and consumer protection minister Ashok Choudhary said that names of about five lakh people had been deleted from among ration-card holders after the completion of SIR process in the state.
State CPI (ML) secretary Kunal strongly condemned reports regarding preparations to remove the names of PDS beneficiaries from their ration cards. He termed the move as “anti-poor, unjust, and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution”.
He stated that for any poor family, a ration card served as the most critical link between life and hunger. In this context, using SIR as a pretext to carry out large-scale deletions of names was a step that pushed lakhs of needy families toward hunger and insecurity.
5L names already deleted
Bihar food and consumer protection minister Ashok Choudhary said that names of about five lakh people had been deleted from among ration-card holders after the SIR process.
