हिंदी
(Dr Daljit Singh Cheema says beneficiaries whose cards had been deleted for two years before being restored should be given monetary compensation for the same)
Chandigarh, January 29, 2024
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded an independent probe into the deletion of 10.70 lakh blue cards of beneficiaries under the Aata-daal scheme which have now been restored by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government even as it asserted the beneficiaries be compensated for being left out of the scheme for two years.
In a statement here, party senior leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said “it is shocking that the AAP government denied food grains given under the scheme to forty lakh people for two years and has now restored the facility on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections due to deep resentment on this issue at the grass root level”. Asserting that only an independent probe could determine the reasons for denial of this facility to forty lakh people, Dr Cheema said “it is clear that people who did not vote for AAP were penalized”.
Dr Cheema asserted chief minister Bhagwant Mann was responsible for this injustice as he had himself announced that rich persons were availing the scheme while deleting the blue cards of 10.7 lakh families. He said since the facility had now been restored to the same persons, the chief minister should tell what action had been taken against those responsible for denying this basic facility to the people. Dr Cheema also demanded that the 10.7 lakh families who were forced to purchase flour privately after being wrongfully kept out of the scheme should be monetarily compensated for the same in a time bound manner.
Asserting that the AAP government was forced to do a volte face on this issue due to a vigorous protest by the SAD, Mr Cheema added “we stand abdicated. It is clear that the AAP government discriminated against Punjabis due to ulterior motives and has not restored the facility for political benefit in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. It is not sure if this facility or others including the old age pension will continue in the present form after the Lok Sabha elections”.
Dr Cheema said party president Sukhbir Singh Badal would go to the people with all the facts in the case during the party’s forthcoming Punjab Bachao yatra. He said the party would also highlight how other social welfare benefits were being denied to the people including the Shagun scheme, SC scholarship scheme, free cycles for girl’s scheme and sports kits scheme during the Punjab Bachao yatra and force the government to restart them also.
