Kejriwal suspends Delhi’s food commissioner over ‘irregularities’ in ration distribution system

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday ordered the suspension of Delhi’s food and supplies commissioner Mohanjeet Singh over alleged irregularities in the ration distribution system.

The action was taken after food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain said during an inspection he found that wheat and rice meant to be distributed among 4,000 residents in west Delhi’s Nangloi was missing.

“This is very serious. Food of the poorest people is being stolen. Responsibility ought to be fixed at the highest levels. I have directed the suspension of the food commissioner,” the CM tweeted.

The suspension order has been sent to chief secretary before it goes to the lieutenant-governor’s office for approval.

Hussain told reporters that about 152 quintals of wheat and 38 quintals of rice which were to be distributed in December were not stored at a specific fair price shop when he reached there on Tuesday night.

“We could not find the wheat and rice stock despite receipts of delivery,” the minister told reporters, alleging a “big scam”. The CM’s announcement came after Hussain sent him a report about the inspection.

The minister said he had warned the food commissioner about irregularities before but nothing was done. “Conducting inspections and finding irregularities is the job of a commissioner and not that of a minister. I still go around off and on,” he said.

When contacted, Singh said he did not want to comment but blamed the government for the diversion of ration.

“First, our enforcement team had already inspected the shop and found irregularities. Second, had electronic point of sale (EPOS) machines been installed, it would have ensured no ration is diverted from the shops,” he said, blaming the government for suspending EPOS, which would have stopped pilferage worth crores of rupees.