MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 19: The Congress-led Democratic Front Government plans to strike at the previous Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's largesse by revoking licences of all the 5,500 zhunka bhakar centres on the ground that they do not serve any purpose.A senior Nationalist Congress Party minister said: "We have decided either to revoke their licences or not to renew them. Apparently, the licences were renewed for three years in 1998, but we will not wait till then."In its manifesto on the eve of the 1995 Assembly elections, the Sena-BJP alliance had declared that it would provide zhunka bhakar for Re 1, particularly for the rural populace. Accordingly, 5,500 centres, including 129 in the island city and 113 in the suburbs were set up in a record six months.When the Sena-BJP government reviewed the scheme, it found that the subsidy was misused on a large scale, while in the metropolis, the centres were selling all eatables except zhunka bhakar. The centres that sold zhunka bhakar did so only between 1 pm and 2 pm. A senior official said, "When Joshi (former chief minister Manohar Joshi) was at the helm of affairs, the irregularities were brought to his notice by officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department, but stringent action was not taken. Then, Joshi had ordered closure of some of the centres in rural areas, but no action was taken against errant centres in the metropolis."When Narayan Rane took the reins of the State in February 1999, along with the closure of the errant centres, he decided to cancel the subsidy given to them on the ground that it was misused. But he did not bring erring zhunka bhakar centres in the metropolis to book.The DF Government took serious note of irregularities in the scheme and decided to review not only the policy, but also the manner in which prime plots in the metropolis were allotted to prominent party workers of the alliance.At a high-level meeting, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Datta Meghe reviewed the situation and found that all was not well with the scheme. "The Minister was stunned when he was informed that prime plots in the Nariman Point area were released for the zhunka bhakar centres for a meagre price. These centres were doing brisk business by selling all types of food except zhunka bhakar," the official pointed out."Since they are not selling zhunka bhakar, there is a clear breach of licencing conditions and as such, it will be appropriate if the department revokes all the licences," the official said, adding since the land allotted to the centres belongs to the Revenue Department, official directives will be issued to the District Collectors to take necessary action.The official said once the premises are vacated, they will be allotted to government-run organisations or voluntary groups.
