Hyderabad, March 14: The Left parties have decided to mount pressure on the Central government to make amendments to the proposed Cash Transfer Scheme (CTS) as the provisions in the Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha are ‘harmful’ to the interests of the poor and marginal sections.
Representatives of the Left parties who discussed the issue at a round table here on Sunday resolved to mobilise public opinion against the proposed Bill through agitations and awareness campaign and ensure that social welfare schemes like subsidy on food, fertilizers, kerosene and other commodities were not affected by the proposed CTS. The Left parties criticised the government for its attempts to do away with subsidies in the name of CTS.
CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu who presided over the meeting expressed concern that the proposed scheme was aimed at diluting the public distribution system and it showed the government’s intentions to shirk its responsibility of providing social security measures for the poor and the marginal sections. Coupled with the CTS was the introduction of the Aadhar smart cards that would result in significant cut in the number of beneficiaries availing subsidies at present.
To substantiate the charges, Mr. Raghavulu pointed out that a majority of farmers who availed fertilizer subsidy were not covered under the below poverty line category while agriculture labour who would secure the unique ID cards had no land in their possession. “Farmers will not get subsidy because they are not covered under the BPL category while farm labour that are covered cannot avail the facility,” he said.
Cover up bid: CPI
CPI senior leader Chada Venkat Reddy said the new scheme was aimed at covering up various scandals that were exposed during the UPA II regime than for streamlining the existing mechanism to help benefits reach the poor. The government should explore other options for preventing leakages in the system if it was committed to enabling targeted beneficiaries take advantage of the schemes.
-Agencies