Opposition leaders on Jattvibeday launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the alleged non-availability of ration at Anganwadi centres for months and the distribution of biscuits and candies instead of nutritious food to children aged between three and six years.Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Member of Parliament Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the situation exposed the government’s failure to ensure nutrition for children at Anganwadi centres.“Under the rule of a government that made grand claims about a better future and nutrition for children, porridge, khichdi and panjiri have vanished from the plates of toddlers aged three to six, replaced by biscuits and candies,” he said.Targeting AAP leader Manish Sisodia, Randhawa said the government was attempting to suppress the truth through publicity.“Your government lacks the confidence to face the truth and instead harbours overconfidence in telling lies. Attempts are being made to suppress the truth by spending crores of rupees on advertisements, but the empty plates of the children are exposing every lie,” he said.He said the prolonged disruption in ration supplies to Anganwadis could not be dismissed as mere negligence.“If ration fails to reach even the most sensitive departments like Anganwadis for months, it is not merely negligence but clear proof of the government’s priorities,” Randhawa said.The MP demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann fix accountability for the delay in ration supply across Punjab, including the 1,634 Anganwadi centres in Jalandhar. He also sought action against officials responsible for the delay.Meanwhile, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, in a reply to a post by Manish Sisodia on X, said the alleged disruption in Anganwadi nutrition services contradicted the government’s claims of governance.“This is the reality of AAP Punjab when the facade of your ‘PR Kranti’ is peeled off. Your govt is incapable of providing basic necessities to our children. The very basic objective of Anganwadis is to eradicate malnutrition but your government is failing at that too. The reality is far different from what you want people to believe,” Warring wrote.National president of the Youth Akali Dal and Ghanaur Halka in-charge Sarabjeet Singh Jhinjer also targeted the AAP government over the issue, calling it an administrative failure.“A glaring administrative failure exposes the hollowness of Bhagwant Mann’s so-called ‘Rangla Punjab.’ The Anganwadi nutrition scheme in Jalandhar lies crippled, with 1,634 centres affected.“Children aged 3 to 6 — who should be receiving nutritious hot cooked meals — are instead being fed junk food like biscuits, toffees and namkeen, thanks to a prolonged breakdown in the government’s supply chain. A government that cannot even guarantee a healthy meal to its youngest citizens has no right to speak of governance,” he posted on X.The BJP’s official page also hit out at the state government over the issue, questioning whether the AAP government was compromising the health of children.“Is this the government putting the health of children at risk? Is this the real change of AAP government?” the party said in a post.BJP state president Kewal Singh Dhillon also took a dig at the state government, stating that the supply of ration had been reduced by half at 1,634 Anganwadi centres in Jalandhar. Due to the cancellation of tenders, children aged three to six years were being given biscuits and toffees instead of nutritious porridge and khichdi. Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers were also being deprived of nutritious food.He then raised concerns over the Mid-Day Meal scheme, noting that cooking funds had been pending for months at around 1,435 primary and middle schools in Jalandhar, forcing teachers to spend money from their own pockets on ration. He also pointed to schools in Ludhiana where meals were being cooked on traditional stoves and said the government must ensure that the prescribed menu was reflected on children’s plates rather than remaining on paper.