Hyderabad: Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Shabbir Ali on Sunday slammed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his “Tughlaq-like” decision to downgrade the public distribution system (PDS) and shut down ration shops, which are regarded as the backbone of anti-poverty programme in the state.

In a statement issued here, Mr Shabbir Ali said that instead of addressing the problems of the striking ration shop dealers, the Chief Minister was using arm twisting methods and threatening to shut down the ration shops in an “undemocratic and anti-poor manner”.

He said only rice was being supplied in ration shops as the NDA government had withdrawn subsidy on sugar after the commodity was de-controlled. In the 2017-18 Budget, the Modi government had allocated only Rs 200 crore to clear pending claims under the PDS sugar subsidy scheme and scrapped sugar subsidy which affected nearly 40 crore BPL families in the country.

He said the Chief Minister had gone one step ahead with the “highly anti-people and anti-poor policy” of wanting to shut down the ration shops and the PDS system. “The Chief Minister’s eccentric and Tughlaq decision to deposit the cost of free rice in the BPL beneficiaries’ bank account will escalate the already bloated inflation and deny thousands of jobs to people,” he said.

He justified the ration dealers demand for a hike in commissions from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,1000 per month in view of steep hike in transport, electricity, wages and rental costs in urban and rural areas. “Instead of closing down the chain of ration shops, the state government should transform them into mini-super bazaars by providing more products and commodities to benefit the poor,” he said.