Govt stops ration to bogus card holders, saves Rs 40 cr in Nov

Having identified 50.45 lakh bogus ration card holders, of the 1.81 crore total card holders, in the last few months, the Food and Civil Supplies department has now started taking action against them.

Addressing reporters in Bangalore on Friday, Food and Civil Supplies Minister D N Jeevaraj said that supply of ration has been stopped to all thebogus card holders in the last few days, and that to date none of them had come knocking on the doors of the department stating that they have been meted with injustice.

“This goes to show that all of these card holders were fake beneficiaries. Because of such card holders, the government was incurring heavy losses. Having stopped the supply of ration to these 50.45 lakh card holders, the government has saved around Rs 40 crore last month,” Jeevaraj said.

He said that the government which was spending anywhere from Rs 1,300 crore to Rs 1,500 crore annually in the distribution of food grains, can now save Rs 500 crore annually through the elimination of the bogus cards.

Jeevaraj also said that if any claimants came back and established that there was an error, the department would immediately activate their cards.

Of the actual beneficiaries, there were 1.69 lakh Antyodaya card holders, 3.5 lakh APL card holders, and 85.3 lakh BPL card holders, he said.

The department was also exploring the option of opening more fair price shops in the State. He said that electronic weighing machines were now being made available at fair price shops in Bangalore and Tumkur, and in the next phase, machines would be distributed to shops in Chikkamagalur, Mysore, Dharwad and Raichur districts.
The department has also sent a proposal to the Finance department for recruiting 73 inspectors to the existing vacant posts, he said.