One Nation One Ration card strikes at federal structure of India: Stalin

DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday slammed the Centre over the one nation one ration card policy and the proposal to have a single national level exam for recruiting judges and judicial officials across the country.

Stalin said the Narendra Modi government’s move “struck at the roots of the federal structure of the country”.

He said the one nation one ration card project was brought in within a hidden agenda to stop the distribution of rice and pulses in rural parts of the country.

On the proposal to have a national level examination for recruiting judges in the country, the Centre has sought the stand of all state governments and the high courts on the creation of an All India Judicial Service (AIJS).

The recruitment at the state and district level is being done by the state governments and administered by the high courts.

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“By saying that they (Centre) would appoint the district judges and magistrates, it would go against the federal structure of the system,” Stalin said and added that he would not allow that.

“The move is with a hidden agenda of centralising the powers at the Centre and DMK would never accept it,” Stalin said.

The Centre has given states and Union Territories time till June 30, 2020 to roll out the one nation, one ration card system, under which beneficiaries can buy subsidised foodgrains from ration shops in any part of the country.

Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said already 10 states — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura — are providing portability of Public Distribution System (PDS) entitlements.