Ruckus in assembly over non-availability of cards for Food Act

The Bihar Assembly on Thursday witnessed angry exchange between government and opposition BJP over non-availability of ration cards to over 18.19 lakh beneficiaries for the Food Security Act in the state so far.

The matter was raised by JD(U) Manjit Kumar Singh through a short notice question. Replying to the question, Food Minister Shyam Rajak said a total of over 1.35 crore beneficiaries have been identified for subsidised food grains in Bihar out of which cards have been distributed among over 1.16 crore people so far. He said 18.19 lakh left out beneficiaries would be given cards by July end by organising special camps for the purpose.

District Magistrates have been told to make people aware of such camps through announcements on loudspeakers. The issue boiled into a fight between opposition and treasury benches when the minister accused BJP of creating "confusion" among beneficiaries about the scheme in the state and not cooperating in making of cards for them.

Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav criticised the state government for launching the Food Act from February 1 this year even though such a large number of beneficiaries were still out of it. Rajak blamed the Centre for "tardy" implementation of the Food Act in the state. The Centre by not providing allotment on time and inadequate supply of grains has created problems in operational efficiency of the scheme, the minister said.

He said out of a total requirement of 12.87 lakh tonnes of foodgrains for distribution under Food Act during March to June, the state has so far received six lakh tonnes only. Moreover, the allotment of February came as late as March 4 and there was delay in subsequent months also, Rajak said.

With more and more members speaking on the topic, Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhary cited house rules to say that maximum time for a question was 20 minutes. On the suggestion of opposition leader and that of Congress Legislature party leader Sadanand Singh to have a special discussion on the topic, the Chair said a half-an-hour discussion would take place on the subject this evening.