House concerned over irregularities in ration card distribution

Bhubaneswar: Members cutting across party lines in the State Assembly today expressed their grave concern over gross irregularities in the distribution of ration card.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, BJD member Padmanav Behera asked the Food Supply and Consumer Welfare department to state about the steps it has taken so far to distribute ration card   to the poor people who are the genuine beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

“It is the duty of the officials of the concerned department to identify the genuine beneficiaries and provide ration card to them. Those who are not eligible have got the ration card while the poor and genuine beneficiaries are yet to get the ration card. The Congress-led UPA government in the Centre had enacted NFSA which was implemented by the present BJP-led NDA government. Now the state government is in a fix with regard to proper implementation of NFSA. Let the concerned ministry give a clarification about the specific time frame in which the ration cards would be disbursed among the poor and genuine beneficiaries,” Behera said.

Opposition chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati said the state government in its Public Distribution System (PDS) should provide wheat to the beneficiaries in the urban areas and rice to the beneficiaries in the rural areas, failing which there would be public resentment against the government.

In his reply, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare minister Sanjay Dasburma said as per the provision under NFSA, the state government must take steps to identify genuine beneficiaries.

The minister, while replying to a question from Tara Banihipati, said as per the 2011 population data, 104.70 percent of ration cards has already been distributed among the beneficiaries in Koraput district. “I request the people to bring to the notice of my department about the genuine beneficiaries whose name has not figured in the list,” the minister informed.