Food Security Bill an eyewash: Goel

Terming the Food Security bill as a "Congress Security Bill", Delhi BJP today said the scheme was yet another eyewash by the state government, which has failed to deliver on its earlier promises of such projects.
Accusing Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of cheating people with "failed schemes" rolled out earlier, Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel said public won't be fooled this time.
"The government thinks it can secure itself in the elections by rolling out the Food security scheme but public won't be fooled this time. Dikshit and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh didn't care about the poor for the last 10 years and now four months before the (Delhi) elections, it is rolling out Food Security scheme to gain votes," Goel told reporters here.

The government has planned to launch the scheme from August 20.
Earlier in the day, Dikshit had said her government has finalised all the nitty gritties to implement the ambitious food security scheme, which would make the city "hunger-free".
Listing the number of schemes on which the state government was not able to deliver, Goel said, "What happened to Annashree, Rajiv Ratan Awas, Jan Ahar and many other such schemes? Not even 10 per cent of benefit has reached the poor."

He said in 2008, the government had announced that it would provide houses to slum dwellers under Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojna but nothing came into existence.

"The government asked eligible persons to fill up forms and lakhs of people had applied but they are still waiting for their promised houses. Now they (the state government) have announced another 20,000 such flats," Goel said.
On Annashree scheme, he said the government "is unable to identify 2.21 lakh beneficiaries selected by it earlier".
Quoting a committee report on the state of PDS in Delhi, Goel said the report has rated the national capital as the "second most corrupt in PDS area".
He claimed there are serious problems with the Aadhaar and ration cards, which the government is taking as basis for enrolling the Food bill.

"Half of the population does not have Aadhaar card, some have been issued double Aadhaar cards. There are still 17 lakh people who have not been issued ration cards. These systems are marred by corruption," Goel alleged, adding that the figure of people living below the poverty line has increase from 11 lakh to 23 lakh in the city.
Goel also took on the government regarding power tariff hike and promised 30 per cent reduction in power charges if BJP comes to power.
"There is a nexus between the power distribution companies and the state government. If BJP comes to power, we will make the market competitive so that the final beneficiaries are customers," he said.