Haryana Govt to scan ration card data to weed out fakes

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, May 2

To weed out fake beneficiaries taking ‘undue’ benefit of government schemes through the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Food and Supplies Department has ordered to scan the data of ration card holders across the state.

Categories of beneficiaries

15,53,887 Other Priority Households

4,49,612 state BPL

4,39,714 Central BPL

2,47,850 Antyodaya Anna Yojana

RTI INFO ON CARDS IN JAN 2022

• Antyodaya Anna Yojana: Sirsa has maximum 20,646 cards followed by Jind at 18,032
• Other Priority Households: Faridabad has maximum 1,43,290 cards and Hisar 1,25,650
• Below Poverty Line: Hisar has maximum 42,639 Central cards and Ambala has 36,428 state cards

The move comes after the department received a number of complaints about fake ration cards being issued in categories such as Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Other Priority Households (OPH).

Sources said the department had directed all District Food and Supplies Controllers (DFSC) to match the list of the beneficiaries getting the ration by depots to the original list available with the ADC for rural areas and municipalities in urban areas to identify the fakes.

The letter issued on April 22 stated that after a number of complaints about fake beneficiaries, the head office had taken a serious note of the issue. It further stated that the list of the AAY, Central and state BPL beneficiaries who were being issued the ration must be matched with the cards to these three categories issued by the ADC office (for rural areas) and the Urban Local Bodies (for cities). Besides, it added that the list of the OPH ration cards be matched with the forms filled under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.

“Any mismatch and lacunas must be reported to the head of the department immediately for further necessary action,” the letter read.

The sources said a number of fake OPH and BPL cards had been prepared in recent years in various districts of the state. “Some ration depot holders and officials were hand in glove in preparing the fake cards under for BPL and OPH categories among others. There were a number of complaints made to the district and state offices after which the department has ordered an inquiry to identify and strike off the fake beneficiaries,” said a depot holder in Hisar.

When contacted, Hisar DFSC Adiyta Kaushik refused to comment

on the matter.