Punjab Governor questions roll out of ‘atta’ home delivery scheme, writes to CM Bhagwant Mann
Ruchika M Khanna
Chandigarh, August 1
Three days after the Punjab Council of Ministers gave its go ahead to the home delivery of ‘atta’ scheme, Punjab Governor Banwarlal Purohit while “discharging his constitutional duty as Governor” has questioned the roll-out of the scheme.
In a letter to the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Governor has said even though his office had forwarded some objections to the scheme being rolled out last year, the government has so far not responded to the letter.
On September 24 last year, the then Principal Secretary to Governor, J M Balamurugan, on the directions of the Governor, had sent a list of anomalies in the scheme for providing home delivery of atta, to then Chief Secretary V K Janjua. These anomalies were initially pointed out in a representation made by Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa, to the Governor. These were: it would result in loss of livelihood of several thousands of families of depot holders and small flour mills (atta chakki); open the possibility of big flour mills to mix substandard wheat while grinding and it would go unchecked as poor quality cannot be detected in atta; and, it opens possibilities of huge underhand gains for flour mills through the by-products to be generated through grinding of atta (maida, suji, wheat bran).
About the scheme
* Govt proposes to have 750 new model fair price shops to run this scheme
* 12,000 existing fair price shops can also opt for taking atta from decentralised procurement godowns, provided they have own scientific storages for atta fulfilling FSSAI norms
* They will also have to give an undertaking that they will purchase/ hire vehicles for home delivery of atta
* Cost of running the scheme is Rs 670 crore, mainly to be incurred on milling of atta and its doorstep delivery
* It could prevent malpractices in existing scheme of wheat distribution, where subsidised wheat is bought back by some depots and resold in open market
The Governor had then desired that these objections be examined by the government and a detailed status report be submitted at the earliest for “his information and perusal”. Expressing his “distress over the indifference to the communication from the Office of Governor and consistent failure to respond to his letters”, the Governor has also reminded the Chief Minister that even after a lapse of six months since he sought information under Section 167 of the Constitution, he has not heard anything.
In this communication, the Governor has taken potshots at Chief Minister Mann for failing to adhere to the rules regarding functioning of the Office of Governor, as laid down by Dr B R Ambedkar, “whose picture you have put in your office, giving an impression to the people of Punjab that you follow his principles in letter and spirit”. “I wonder if this has any factual foundation,” he has written.
He has even made a reference of the judgement of Supreme Court of India, in a petition filed by the AAP government against the Governor, earlier this year. Quoting the Article 167 (draft Article 147), the letter refers to the Apex Court judgement, which says that the “…role of the Governor is to advise the Ministry, to warn the Ministry, to suggest to the Ministry an alternative and to ask for a reconsideration… He is the representative not of a party, he is representative of the people as a whole of the State. It is in the name of the people that he carries on the administration. He must see that the administration is carried on a level which may be regarded as good, efficient, honest administration”.
