BJP lawmaker John Barla on
Friday made a complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the West Bengal government of not properly distributing ration materials due to which many poor people are starving.
Barla, who had earlier charged the states Trinamool Congress government with virtually putting him under "house arrest" to stop him from distributing relief materials to people, wrote a letter to the PM urging him to take immediate action "so that needy families are not deprived of essentials".
State Food and Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said the allegation is baseless and politically motivated.
In his letter, the Alipurduar MP alleged that people of West Bengal are not getting the benefits of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana - an extra 5 kg of rice/wheat and 1 kg of dal - as the state government is yet to come out with an order in this regard.
The scheme was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26.
"In the letter, I have said ration card holders under Rajya Khadya Suraksha Yojana-II are not receiving food grains free of cost in some areas. People are being charged," Barla told reporters.
"There are many poor people in North Bengal, who do not have ration cards and they are deprived of free ration. I have requested the prime minister to take action to solve the problem," he said.
Reacting to his allegation, Mullick said the state government is providing more than 7.5 crore people with free ration.
"If he (Barla) has names of those who did not get ration, let him publish the list. We will look into it. Making allegations to score political brownie points is not appreciated at this time of crisis," Mullick said.
The development came a day after, the BJP leadership of West Bengal alleged that police have stopped its lawmakers from venturing outside their homes to prevent them from distributing relief materials to the people in distress.
BJP MPs Arjun Singh, John Barla and Jayanta Ray were stopped on the road and asked by police to return home and stay indoors till the lockdown is lifted, the party claimed.
Barla had said he informed Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the situation.
The TMC denied the allegations as baseless and said the BJP should refrain from indulging in cheap politics at this time of crisis.
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