BPL fraud costs city Rs 3 crore per month

The district court on Friday sent notices to the local administration, the District Food and Civil Supplies controller and Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon on charges of forging more than 30,000 BPL (below poverty line) cards out of the total 67,000, causing loss of Rs 2.62 crore to the government every month.

The district court on Friday sent notices to the local administration, the District Food and Civil Supplies controller and Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon on charges of forging more than 30,000 BPL (below poverty line) cards out of the total 67,000, causing loss of R2.62 crore to the government every month.

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Every cardholder gets seven litres of kerosene at a subsidised rate of Rs 9 per litre every month and 35 kg of wheat for Rs 2.5 per kg. Government officers have been accused of siphoning off funds to the tune of Rs 2.62 crore every month by allocating ration in the name of fake cards.

Gurgaon deputy commissioner PC Meena said: “I have not got even a single complaint regarding this. But if we discover some irregularities in the list, we will take action against guilty officials. All bogus names will be removed from the list.”
OP Kataria, a resident of Sector 12, who filed a petition in court along with others, said: “One BPL cardholder owns a bungalow and is constructing a house on a 1000-sq-yard plot. We discovered that four cards were issued in his name.”
“Despite repeated complaints, the authorities have not conducted a survey to rectify the errors,” said Sunita Kataria, councillor from ward 14, who is also one of the petitioners.