In a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Ahmed took a dig at the 'Gujarat Model' and questioned the efficiency of state administration in implementing the Act.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel on Thursday slammed the Gujarat government for seeking another extension to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
In a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Ahmed took a dig at the 'Gujarat Model' and questioned the efficiency of state administration in implementing the Act.
"Over the past several years, the state government has invested substantial amount of resources in highlighting it's administrative efficiency called the Gujarat Model of Governance. Hence, it is surprising that the state has repeatedly missed the deadline, since states with larger populations like Bihar have already implemented it," he said.
Two days ago, Gujarat Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama stated that he had requested Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to extend the deadline for rolling out NFSA till March 2016, since the Gujarat government is still preparing a digitised database of beneficiaries.
Reacting to the development, Ahmed stated in his letter that earlier, Gujarat had sought as well as received a one-year extension in August 2014, which ends on September this year.
"The latest request (by the Gujarat government) is a major setback in the efforts to ensure legally guaranteed subsidised food grains to our population. There should not be any delay in meeting the revised deadline of September 2015, as mandated by the Central government," Patel said.
"During the Digital India Week, it was claimed that Gujarat is making giant strides in digital governance and e-governance. So why has the state government not been able to exploit such advances to update the list of beneficiaries in order to implement the Act," Patel said.
He also stressed the benefits of this Act in providing subsidised grains to needy citizens.
"As per the Gujarat government's own submission to the Supreme Court, little over 31 lakh families receive subsidised grains, which makes the current public distribution system highly exclusionary," Patel said.
"On the other hand, implementation of NFSA will ensure that over 77 lakh families receive subsidised grains. Therefore, every instance of delay in implementing this Act constitutes gross injustice towards the poor," the letter said.
He then urged the Gujarat chief minister to take steps to ensure timely implementation of the Act.
"When Parliament had passed the NFSA in 2013, it was envisaged that citizens will enjoy the right to subsidised food grains by July 2014. In the interest of marginalised sections, I urge you to adhere to the spirit of this Act and take all necessary steps to implement it at the earliest," it stated.
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