Sanju Devi stood wearily, clutching a cloth bag outside a ration shop. It had been a month since Delhi had gone under lockdown to contain a...
Sanju Devi stood wearily, clutching a cloth bag outside a ration shop. It had been a month since Delhi had gone under lockdown to contain a deadly surge of coronavirus cases and over three weeks since the prime minister had announced extra foodgrains for two months for 800 million people enrolled under the National Food Security Act.
But, in Bhalswa, a dirt-poor working-class neighbourhood in India’s capital, 18 days into the month of May, Devi’s family of five were still to receive even their regular monthly rations.
“Usually, the rations are distributed in the first week,” said the middle-aged woman. “But this month, I have made several rounds of the shop, each time they say the stocks are yet to arrive.”
The ration shop owner, who stood by overhearing the conversation, clarified: “The CM ration has come. But we are waiting for the PM ration.”
By CM or the chief minister’s ration, he meant the regular monthly supply of 250 quintals of wheat and 66 quintals of rice that the Delhi government sent for distribution among the 1,455 beneficiaries enlisted at his shop, each entitled to at least five kilo of foodgrains. The PM – or prime minister’s – ration was an extra five kilo of foodgrains...
