Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the assembly of West Bengal, has written to Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal on Saturday, informing him of the State Government's deceptive manoeuvre to mislead the state's general public.
Adhikari took to Twitter and wrote, "So I have written to the Hon'ble Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution; Shri @PiyushGoyal Ji apprising him about the WB Govt's deceptive manoeuvre to mislead the general public of WB."
The leader of the Opposition in West Bengal assembly also tweeted a poster of the Food and Supplies Department of the State, "The Food & Supplies Department's poster is yet another unethical attempt to claim credit. The items offered in this scheme are actually provided by the Central Government."
In a letter written by Adhikari, he said, "I would like to draw your kind attention towards a specific publicity material, published and displayed by the Department of Food & Supplies, West Bengal Government."
The poster shared by Adhikari provides information about a 'Festive Scheme' made available to the AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojna) & SPHH (State Priority Ration Card) Ration Card holders for a limited time period starting from 23rd September, 2022 till 30th October, 2022.
"This offer is being promoted as a part of the now defunct "Duare Ration" scheme & so called (non-existent) "Khadya Sathi" scheme. The Duare Ration (doorstep delivery of ration) scheme has always been in trouble since it was launched," the letter read.
The message being circulated is based on the West Bengal Government offering subsidised rates on the occasion of Shared-utsav (Durga Puja), Kaali Puja, Deepavali, and Chath Puja; "1Kg Maida at Rs 29/per kilo, 1Kg Sugar at Rs 32/per kilo,1Ltr Mustard oil at Rs 166/per ltr, 1 Ltr Palm Oil at Rs 138/per ltr, etc," as per the poster.
"A vast majority of the Ration Dealers (distributors) objected to it & labelled it as impractical. The West Bengal Government didn't pay heed to their logical objection and forced them to continue with the scheme. However the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court declared this scheme as ultra vires to NFSA (National Food Security Act) & legally void," LoP stated in the letter.
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He stated that this poster is yet another unethical attempt to claim credit. The food that is being served is actually provided by the Central Government. However, in order to deceive the public, the State Government has made it appear to be their own.
"On the other hand the Khadya Sathi scheme is just another infamous 'Sticker Scheme' of Mamata Banerjee Government. You must be aware that the West Bengal Government has been engaging in renaming the Central Government schemes to befool the general public into believing that the schemes are being provided by the State Government in order to claim credit of the benefits which are being provided by the Central Government. So, Khadya Sathi is nothing but a label placed on the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana," Suvendu wrote in the letter.
He urged the Union Minister to take note of this unscrupulous act and seek answers from the West Bengal government. He also stated that this offer must be accompanied by publicity material displaying the logo and name of the relevant Central Government scheme.