Laxity by dept officials delays distribution by over 5 months

Since the Lok Sabha elections, however, the wheat has not been distributed. The wheat is supplied by the central government for Rs 2 a kg and Punjab subsidises it further to Re 1 every kg. The state’s civil supplies department only took up the matter with the Centre on Monday.

While the Centre has now agreed to clear the stock of 80,000 tons of wheat, the very purpose behind the scheme has been defeated as the blue card holder families had to buy wheat from the open market over the last five months.

The union government gave assurance to supply the wheat to the state in a meeting between principal secretary (Food and Civil Supplies) D S Grewal and Union Food and Supply secretary Sudhir Kumar in New Delhi on Monday. The Punjab officials had rushed there after the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal aired his annoyance with the food supply department for the lapse in distribution.

Sources said that this had angered the Deputy chief minister so such an extent, that he gave the department officials a dressing down.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, about 18 lakh families had been benefitting from the scheme but 13.5 lakh more families were provided blue cards just ahead of the elections. Acting on a Congress complaint at that time, the ECI allowed distribution for one month only instead of whole six months. After the elections, the state did not pursue the matter immediately due to which the stock lapsed.

The government officials said the department had sent two reminders to the central government but there was no positive response
Under the scheme, now tweaked to add even more beneficiaries as per the Food Security Act, the state gives wheat at Re 1 per kg and pulses at Rs 20 per kg to poor families.