GUWAHATI: The Opposition Congress submitted a memorandum to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday, demanding impartial distribution of relief and financial assistance to the needy amid the COVID-19 induced lockdown.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president, Ripun Bora, among various other issues, demanded that the government should act on a war footing so that the affected people can get the benefit of the economic packages during the lockdown.
Alleging that some BJP MLAs and party leaders at constituency level were distributing items under economic packages to the people, Bora also accused BJP leaders of violating government guidelines by preparing the list of beneficiaries of different economic packages, which should be done by the concerned department and panchayat gram sabhas.
The APCC president further alleged that the government has failed to complete the process of rice distribution under National Food Security Act (NFSA) for the months of March and April 2020 through the public distribution system.
“BJP leaders and workers should desist from carrying out false propaganda in the matter of distribution of NFSA rice as relief from BJP government in view of the lockdown. In fact NFSA, under which 5kg rice is distributed among family members every month, is a national programme and therefore cannot be linked to the relief distributed to minimize impact of the lockdown,” Bora stated.
“Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared in the recent economic package that in addition to NSFA rice, every poor people will get 5kg rice or wheat and 1kg lentil. But in Assam the government has so far not distributed the items,” he claimed.
Bora also alleged that in some places, BJP MLAs and ministers were misusing official powers and forcibly taking away PDS rice from co-operative societies and falsely propagating that they have distributed the same in their personal capacity. “Such activities of BJP leaders to derive political mileage at the cost of the poor and downtrodden must be stopped,” he demanded.
Assam PCC demanded that the NFSA rice or the special rice at the rate of 5kg with 1kg lentil and other schemes as per the economic packages of the central and state governments should not be confined among the listed BPL families or NFSA card holders only.
“All the labourers in the unorganised sectors who are the worst affected by the lockdown should be provided relief immediately. Besides, the government should procure vegetables from growers at market price, ensure supply of diesel to farmers at subsidised rates and also declare economic packages for small tea growers and rubber growers,” he said.
The APCC president finally urged the chief minister to rise above party political considerations and consider a just and impartial approach. “Assam PCC once again reiterates its fullest support and solidarity with the government during this critical period,” he added.