Govt fails to reach out to those in need

Not meeting targets for its flagship schemes, delay in issuing ration cards and difference in grain allocation by the Centre, Delhi government as well as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) were problem areas identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the Capital’s public distribution system.

Not meeting targets for its flagship schemes, delay in issuing ration cards and difference in grain allocation by the Centre, Delhi government as well as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) were problem areas identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the Capital’s public distribution system.

The performance audit of the department of food supplies and consumer affairs for the period 2006-07 to 2010-11 was tabled on Wednesday.

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The food supplies department could identify only 1.01 lakh families under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) as against the target of 1.57 lakh. Similarly, as against the target of 8,040 persons, only 128 beneficiaries were identified under Annapurna scheme. "Moreover, funds available for beneficiaries remained unutilised," the report said.

In some cases, ration cards were issued up to 69 to 332 days late as against the prescribed one-month period. The report also pointed to a major lacuna in food management system vis-à-vis the supply chain and differences in allocation at different levels.

The department could neither utilise full quantities allocated by the Centre nor were the quantities allocated by the department lifted from FCI units.

The CAG also observed allocation and distribution of food grains and kerosene against undistributed cards. Scanned data was available for 54,378 cards but actually 1,36,436 BPL cards were prepared. The department could not explain the excess printing.