Finance minister P. Chidambaram sought help from bankers in the implementation of the direct cash transfer scheme and said that the scheme will be rolled out in some of the districts from January and by end of next year it will cover more areas. On the other hand, NGOs under the umbrella of right to food campaign criticised the cash transfer saying it will hit the right of the poor and marginalised section of the society.
Speaking at a function organised by the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur [SBBJ], the finance minister on Saturday said that the banks should gear up to make effective implementation of the scheme.
The right to food campaign activists gathered in Jaipur and raised several questions on the scheme. “It is aimed to weaken the public distribution system. The government is painting a wrong picture of the PDS. We demand a proper implementation of the PDS instead of scrapping it,” said Dr Reetika Khera, a professor.
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Raman attacks centre, decides to oppose move
Nitin Mahajan
New Delhi, Dec 22
Chhattisgarh chief minister Dr Raman Singh on Saturday attacked the Centre for the proposed cash transfer scheme for recipients under public distribution system and stated that he would oppose the move in next week’s National Development Council meet.
Speaking to this newspaper, the Chhattisgarh chief minister Dr Raman Singh stated that he had been vehemently against the direct cash transfer to people under public distribution system. “I am going to oppose the Centre’s move on direct transfer of money under the PDS in next week’s NDC meet,” Mr Singh stated. The Chhattisgarh chief minister alleged that the Centre wants to implement the direct cash transfer scheme as it had been unable to implement a proper PDS system.