E-Paper
Illegal practices hit distribution
EFFORTS OF the State Government to provide rations at subsidised rate to the poor and the downtrodden through the fair price shops in the district have gone haywire. These shops continue to indulge in illegal practices by flouting government norms and the agencies meant to ensure fair distribution of rations to the poor from these shops have even failed to bring desired result.
EFFORTS OF the State Government to provide rations at subsidised rate to the poor and the downtrodden through the fair price shops in the district have gone haywire.
These shops continue to indulge in illegal practices by flouting government norms and the agencies meant to ensure fair distribution of rations to the poor from these shops have even failed to bring desired result.
According to sources, 46,88,686 members are being given the benefit of subsidised rations in the district. This figure includes 38,76,121 members of above poverty line (APL), 5,00, 766 belonging to below poverty line (BPL), 3,11,799 under the Antodya schemes and beneficiaries of the Annapurna scheme.
There are 26 wholesale and 560 retail shops of kerosene oil in the district. Besides, there are 50 gas agencies which supply cooking gas to about 5 lakh domestic and 1800 commercial consumers.
Despite large number of PDS shops, beneficiaries are hardly satisfied with their services and they lodge complaints of irregularities in the distribution of rations from time to time. The district supply officials have also carried out raids and initiated action against the guilty.
However, these raids are not enough to control the menace. Because, the main aim of the government to give relief to the lower income group in the society has been hardly achieved. Most of the beneficiaries expressed their dissatisfaction with the system and they said that the benefit of these schemes hardly reached the unprivileged.
To stop such illegal practices, the vigilance team of the DSO carried out about 14,500 raids on fair-price shops, gas agencies and other shops authorised to distribute subsidised ration etc. from January to December 2005.
They lodged 48 FIR against the PDS shop owners and 41 of them were arrested. They also suspended licenses of at least 165 shops and also cancelled licenses of 56 shops.
A senior official of the DSO said: “We have constituted 27 teams consisting one assistant rationing officer and one official assistant. However, we have also carried out joint operations.”
He added that the increased frequency of inspection and raids by the official teams had been effective in checking the irregularities. However, the shopkeepers complained that the margin of profit was very low and this was the reason behind misappropriation.
