'Amma Hastham' is old wine in a new bottle

  Propaganda hype over Amma Hastham  scheme  which promised to give 9 essential  provisions for the white card holders for only Rs 185.

The Amma Hastham scheme was launched with a big fanfare on Ugadi.  According to the scheme, the government promises to supply 9 essential provisions to all the white card holders. There was a big propaganda over the same with leaflets, banners, and cut outs. The schedule of the scheme to be launched in every district by the CM, ministers and people’s representatives was given wide publicity.
But the government failed to make arrangements to transport the provisions to the ration shops. At the inaugural functions, there was severe scarcity of commodities and hence only a few could receive the ration. This disappointed many women who questioned the officials as to why only a few selected ones were given the promised provisions. The ministers have started avoiding the inaugural functions unable to face the ire of the women. CM’s own district Chittoor faced the same situation. The scheme is yet to be launched in Karimnagar District, the native of Minister for Civil supplies, Sridhar Babu.
The government considers this scheme highly prestigious, but there was no proper planning. It failed to transport the required provisions to all the ration shops in time. The scheme flopped miserably showing the government in poor light.
The CM launched the scheme with a big fanfare at Karveti Nagar in Chittoor district on April14. The ministers were asked to launch the scheme in Mandal Kendras from April 17 onwards. It was publicized that 9 essential provisions will be given but the women were taken aback to receive only three—salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder and in some places tamarind. Women are expressing their resentment at the way the government failed to keep up its promise.
In Kuppam, the Congress and TDP workers came to blows over this issue. The police had to intervene when the two parties fought in Nagileru (Narayana mandalam). Several places in the state witnessed similar scenes with the angry women expressing displeasure at being given less than the promised ration. In Khammam district, out of 46 mandals 27 are agency areas in which Girijans live. They are already being given provisions at subsidised rates. So they are not very interested in the new scheme.

Dealers also are angry: The ration shop dealers are grumbling that the commission given  for distributing the provisions is too meager. It is learnt that the ration wasn’t supplied DDs weren’t remitted. In other districts, the dealers say that though they remitted the DDs they did not get the supply. Provisions items failed to reach shops in Kadapa, Guntur, Srikakulam and Visakapatnam. In Guntur district, 75 shops did not receive items like Turmeric powder, chilli powder and Sugar. So the dealers confronted the Manager of Civil Supplies Dept on Wednesday. The scheme started by the CM at Tekkali in Srikakulam District alone received full supply. The dealers of ration shops paid Rs 3.7 crores to the civil supplies dept for the provisions under this scheme and they are agitated that they had to face the wrath of the white card holders over lapse from the government’s side.
 The scheme has only propaganda value and nothing else say the critics. It is like filling old wine into new bottles because out of 9 items mentioned in the list, five like redgram, sugar, wheat, wheat flour and palm oil are already being supplied under subsidised rates. They had added only tamarind, salt, turmeric powder, and chilli powder. But the main grouse is that the provision items are not being given to everyone.
The officials agree that there are glitches in this month which will be smoothened from the next month onwards
-Sakshipost