The Delhi government has started preparing for the launch of the Congress-led UPA government’s 2014 Lok Sabha poll plank, the Food Security Programme. The move is aimed at showcasing the capital as a test case while boosting the party’s chances for a fourth term in the assembly polls later this year.
The launch, to be scheduled on August 20 — the birthday of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is expected to set the momentum for the poll campaign not just in Delhi but across the nation.
The preparation started on Tuesday with chief minister Sheila Dikshit directing her bureaucratic top brass to chalk out a road map for the launch. The chief minister had informed Union food minister KV Thomas that Delhi would be the first state in the country to roll out the scheme.
With the Assembly polls in Delhi likely to be held in November and the code of conduct for the elections expected to come into force in September, the chief minister has little time to prepare for the launch. The Delhi government has already been executing the cash for food scheme under the banner Annashree Yojna. The monthly Rs 600 subsidy scheme, announced in the 2012 Delhi budget, was launched with much fanfare by Sonia in December. The ground work for the scheme to select eligible beneficiaries may now be used to reach out to beneficiaries for the Food Security Programme, which has a similar eligibility criteria, said sources.
While the implementation of the Annshree scheme has been marked by delays and red tape, a recent cabinet meeting relaxed the norms of the scheme to meet its target of two lakh beneficiaries.
President Pranab Mukherjee had signed the ordinance on the Food Security Programme on Friday that would give the nation’s three-fourth population the right to get five kg foodgrain every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg. Every kilogram of rice will be supplied at Rs 3 while wheat and coarse cereals will be given at Rs 2 and Re 1 per kg, respectively.
The launch, to be scheduled on August 20 — the birthday of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is expected to set the momentum for the poll campaign not just in Delhi but across the nation.
The preparation started on Tuesday with chief minister Sheila Dikshit directing her bureaucratic top brass to chalk out a road map for the launch. The chief minister had informed Union food minister KV Thomas that Delhi would be the first state in the country to roll out the scheme.
With the Assembly polls in Delhi likely to be held in November and the code of conduct for the elections expected to come into force in September, the chief minister has little time to prepare for the launch. The Delhi government has already been executing the cash for food scheme under the banner Annashree Yojna. The monthly Rs 600 subsidy scheme, announced in the 2012 Delhi budget, was launched with much fanfare by Sonia in December. The ground work for the scheme to select eligible beneficiaries may now be used to reach out to beneficiaries for the Food Security Programme, which has a similar eligibility criteria, said sources.
While the implementation of the Annshree scheme has been marked by delays and red tape, a recent cabinet meeting relaxed the norms of the scheme to meet its target of two lakh beneficiaries.
President Pranab Mukherjee had signed the ordinance on the Food Security Programme on Friday that would give the nation’s three-fourth population the right to get five kg foodgrain every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg. Every kilogram of rice will be supplied at Rs 3 while wheat and coarse cereals will be given at Rs 2 and Re 1 per kg, respectively.
No comments:
Post a Comment