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Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Palghar among top 6 districts in Duplicate ration cards
The drive is started by the state government to shut down all the ration cards with the same address, within the first week of June, they found 2,32,766 out of which 1,27,810 duplicate ration cards were cancelled
Mumbai: The state government has undertaken a drive to weed out duplicate ration cards with the same address. The drive conducted by the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department ‘one home one ration card’ revealed that Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Palghar are among the top 6 districts with the highest number of duplicate ration cards, with Mumbai having a figure of 10,798.
The Central government provides food grains at low costs under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme, for which many beneficiaries have registered with multiple cards with the same address, leading to heavy losses to the state exchequer.
“It has been found that many families were getting two to three times more food grains than they are eligible for. For example, the government gives up to 35 kg of wheat and rice at the rate of ₹2 and ₹3 respectively for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders. It has been found that the families with duplicate cards were taking undue benefit and are getting about 70 to 105 kg of food grains. It is a loss to the state exchequer,” said an official from the department.
It was also found that these families sold the extra food grains to traders or in the market. To stop the misuse, the drive was started by the department and within the first week of June, they found 2,32,766 out of which 1,27,810 duplicate ration cards were cancelled. For the rest of the cards, scrutiny is going on, said the officer.
In Mumbai, Andheri was reported to have 4,396 duplicate ration cards, Parel 2,636, Wadala 2,133, and Kandivali 1,633 with the same address.
The ‘one home one ration card’ drive will continue in the coming months and more duplicate ration cards will be cancelled, said the official.
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