Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh criticised the Uttar Pradesh government over its new rules on ration cards and said the government had no intention to provide ration to the poor and that was why it was making such rules.
Taking a jibe at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Singh said one would have to live in darkness (without electricity connection) if one wanted to have a ration card.
“The state government will now provide ration to one who is landless, has no pucca house, no cattle, no tractor for farming, one who is not getting any financial help from the government, has no electricity connection or one who has no means to earn his/her livelihood. One who has a poultry farm or runs gaushalas will not be eligible for ration card,” he said.
He said the Yogi Adityanath government was snatching food from poor people by making strict ration card rules and added that the people were getting the feel of a changed mindset of the government.
Singh said the government changed the rules as it did not intend to provide ration to the poor. “The government has issued instructions to surrender the ration card to those who do not qualify for it under the new rules. This way the public will be deprived of ration from fair price shops. The people are already reeling under the burden of inflation and the state government decision will worsen their condition,” he said.
The AAP leader, in a tweet, said the UP government's change of stand on ration cards was a glaring example of politics of show-business and farce.
“If one is running a gaushala one will not be eligible for a ration card. If you want to get a ration card then live in the dark because you are eligible only if you have no electricity connection,” he said in the tweet.