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Chhattisgarh govt to probe irregularities in fair price shops under Congress regime
Food and civil supply minister Dayaldas Baghel claimed discrepancies were found in the operation of ration shops during the Congress government’s tenure
Chhattisgarh food and civil supply minister Dayaldas Baghel on Tuesday said that the state government will probe the alleged irregularities at fair price shops that were operating under the Public Distribution System (PDS) during the previous Congress regime.
Talking to the media, Baghel claimed discrepancies were found in the operation of ration shops during the Bhupesh Baghel government’s tenure.
“Ration stocks worth a staggering ₹216 crore were found short, so the matter will now be subject to a fresh investigation by a committee comprising legislators,” he said.
The issue was highlighted by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators Dharamlal Kaushik, Ajay Chandrakar, and Rajesh Munat during the question hour of the Chhattisgarh assembly session.
Kaushik alleged that there were widespread irregularities in PDS across the state during the previous Congress rule and accused rice mafias of diverting ration intended for the poor and using it to pocket money.
Responding to Kaushik’s allegations, minister Baghel said that a physical verification of ration stock in 13,392 fair price shops was conducted by food inspectors and assistant food officers by the end of 2022, which revealed ration shortages amounting to ₹216.08 crore, including 44,240 tonnes of rice valued at ₹192.65 crore across 5,882 fair price shops.
Baghel said that the then food minister Amarjeet Bhagat had promised to table a report on the alleged irregularities by March 24. However, the session was abruptly adjourned sine die on March 23 that year.
In the wake of the report shared by the food inspectors, licenses of 181 shops and 227 fair price shops were terminated.
FIRs were also registered against 24 shop operators for alleged misuse of PDS ration and other irregularities, but “no action was taken against government officials and employees implicated in the irregularities”, Baghel added.
