Political leaders from Tamil Nadu, including DMK president M.K. Stalin, have opposed the ‘one nation, one ration card’ proposal of the Centre, saying it would result in undesirable consequences.
“This is an attempt to uproot the tenets of federalism and is against the Constitution,” Mr. Stalin said in a statement.
At a time when the ‘one nation, one election’ plan was evoking protests form regional parties and intellectuals, the Central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was seeking to impose ‘one nation, one ration card’, the DMK leader said.
State’s responsibility
He said the Centre had added insult to injury by saying magistrates would be chosen by the Central government.
Pointing out that public distribution was the responsibility of the State governments, Mr. Stalin said the Centre had failed to understand that interfering with the right would amount to stirring the hornet’s nest.
‘A conspiracy’
He sought to know whether the AIADMK government would dare to raise its voice against the Centre.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko said the ‘one nation, one ration card’ scheme would undermine the public distribution system, which was being effectively implemented by Tamil Nadu, and would encourage people from other States to settle down in the Southern States.
Accusing the Centre of unnecessarily infringing on the rights of the State governments, Mr. Vaiko said such moves were a conspiracy to reduce State governments into mere municipalities.
“People of different States have different food habits, and by seeking to control the public distribution system, the Centre is trying to impose a uniform food habit,” he alleged.
‘PDS will collapse’
AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran said the proposed scheme would lead to the collapse of the public distribution system in Tamil Nadu, since the State government was under severe financial crisis after signing up to the Food Security Act.
“If ration goods are distributed to workers from other States, it will affect the share of the Tamil Nadu people. It will also add to the financial burden,” Mr. Dhinakaran said.
Published - July 01, 2019 12:06 am IST
