Rajasthan: 'I am poor, receive ration from NFSA', painted on houses in Dausa by administration

While Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje has been making headlines for the wrong reasons, another incident denting her image has come to the fore.

In a humiliating move for the villagers, the district administration in Dausa district has painted -— 'I am poor' — on the walls outside the homes off families receiving subsidised food grains.

According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, the painted messages could be seen outside over 50,000 dwellings in Sikrai and Bandikui tehsils.

Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities are among those in the BPL category who receive the benefit under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The report also says that the villagers have been hiding their faces due to the humiliation. The officials have reportedly been directed to remove the names of people from the beneficiary list if they protested to the painted messages.

"Even when we opposed, they painted our walls with this message. We feel very humiliated but what can we do. The government is just making fun of us by painting this," said a villager. According to ANI, the villagers also claimed that they were told they will be paid Rs 750 if they allowed their homes to be marked.

"At the time of the Congress, many got themselves registered to avail the benefits of the government's scheme. But the one who deserve to get the right are still deprived of it. The ruling government has taken this initiative for the backward class," said a NFSA official.

The NFSA was undertaken during the UPA government, as per which people belonging to backward classes were given five kilograms of food grains per person per month at subsidised rates.

However, additional collector Dausa, KC Sharma said that the district administration had not given any such directive.

“The zila parishad could have issued the directive as there were complaints of misuse of the Food Security Act by those who are not eligible. I will look into this complaint,” Sharma told Hindustan Times.

The Congress has also attacked the Vasundhara Raje government for 'humiliating' those getting subsidized food grains.

“It’s a sick joke. It proves the BJP governments at the Centre and in states are anti-poor,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.

However, this has not happened for the first time. Last year too, the administration had marked the houses of people belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.

(With Agency Inputs)