Bharatiya Janata Party State president Narendra Singh Tomar has criticised the Congress-led UPA for ending the compulsory sugar levy on sugar mills alleging that by this decision the Centre has snatched sweetness from the poor households.
“By its anti-people decision, the UPA has proved once again that it is committed to the capitalists, mill owners and industrial houses instead of common people,” Tomar alleged on Sunday pointing out that the Centre has decided to end the sugar levy under which the antyodaya and below poverty line (BPl) families were provided with sugar through public distribution system (PDS).
“The sugar mills used to provide sugar under the 10 per cent quota of levy at subsidised rates. Thus, the State used to get 13,000 metric ton sugar under this quota which provided for the daily necessities of antyodaya and BPl families.
Now, with the anti-people decision of the Centre, while the sugar mill owners have succeeded in their objective the State Government will face difficulty in providing sugar to poor families from June,” Tomar had said.
“The sugar received under levy was provided to poor at `13.5 per kg which is less than half the market price. By revoking the decision overnight Centre has left the State at the mercy of the markets.
Now, the Government will be forced to buy sugar from market. It would not be easy to buy such a large amount of sugar from market and then distribute it under the PDS,” he remarked, adding that in name of economic liberalisation, the Centre is shrugging its responsibility toward the common man who has been left to the mercy of market forces.
He further said that instead of reforming the PDS, the Centre has created a problem by its decision and proved that it is insensitive to the common people.