Allegations of political interference in distribution of dry rations have surfaced after the State government took away the responsibility from the Labour Department and handed it over to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
While the Labour Department has been utilising funds from Karnataka State Construction Workers’ Welfare Board to ready the dry ration kits comprising 13 items to be distributed among construction and migrant workers, the government has shifted the task of distribution to BBMP. This move has been resented by the trade unions, which say that it is leading to politicisation.
One lakh dry ration hampers, which the department had kept ready, is now being distributed at ward-levels with the involvement of councillors. Piqued over the decision, trade union representatives met Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, but could not succeed in convincing him to withdraw the order.
CITU State general secretary Meenakshi Sundaram, who met the Chief Secretary, said that councillors have been affixing their stickers and are involved in distribution of dry rations to their constituencies. He said: “We are not sure if the hampers are reaching the people who need them. Though the reason for the shift to BBMP was that the Labour Department did not have manpower, it was more of a political decision.”
Another leader said that this was no surprise since political leaders had expressed unhappiness over the department’s move to directly provide the benefits. Some leaders had also petitioned Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who finally relented, he added.
Department officials also admit to this. One of them pointed out that an official had, without authorisation, handed over 5,000 dry ration packets to an MLA, who in turn distributed it to his constituency using his name and photograph. “It is true that the Labour Department does not have manpower, but it had sought the help of trade unions to make the distribution effective and accountable,” a senior department official told The Hindu.
In fact, the official said the department also has a legacy issue to deal with, with the government seeing BBMP as being in a better position to deal with distribution. “We only hope that the dry rations reach the needy,” he said.