Congress members staged a symbolic dharna in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Chhattisgarh Assembly premises on the fourth day of Monsoon Session here on Thursday while accusing the State Government of depriving poor people of their right to food by cancelling ration cards besides not taking any action to check hoarders who had managed to get ration cards.
The Congress members were not satisfied with the replies of Food Minister Punnulal Mohle during discussion on the ration card issue during the adjournment motion moved by them.
“We had sought from the Government to take steps for stopping cancellation of ration cards of eligible people and to take action against ineligible people; mostly black marketeers and hoarders. But the Minister failed to take any initiative or give assurance on both the aspects,’ said leader of Opposition TS Singhdeo.
He said that about 14 to 24 lakh ineligible people were holding ration cards which was a burden on the State exchequer. This amounts to about Rs 7000 to Rs 1000 crore in six months and this should be checked immediately, he added.
The notice for adjournment motion was given by 38 Congress members including Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singhdeo. Discussion on the issue was held at 3 pm in the Assembly according to the time allotted by the Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal.
Members of the Treasury bench refuted the charges and said that verification and cancellation of ration cards was a routine work under public distribution system (PDS).
In his notice, Congress member Bhupesh Baghel alleged that the State Government had been frequently changing the ration cards in the name of colour or the woman head of the family. This had resulted in waste of crores of rupees in printing and transportation of cards, he said.
He further alleged that poor people were suffering due to the verification process as they had been deprived of ration for past few months.
Scores of people are visiting the Food department to restore the cancelled ration cards, he said, while accused the government officers of corruption and sought action against them.
Food Minister Punnulal Mohle gave explanation on the notice of Congress member Bhupesh Baghel and said that as many as 1.81 lakh ration cards had been cancelled in the State while 11.96 lakh card holders had been found ineligible in the survey. The Government was committed to provide ration to poor people but it also involved taking measures to ensure that ineligible people do not avail the benefit of the scheme and hence verification has been started, he said.
No card is cancelled without verification and those with any objection are being heard before taking a final decision.
The Minister said that Government had initiated a number of steps from time to time to check misuse of the scheme. In 2013-14, cases were registered against 367 ration shops and license of 65 shops were cancelled, 110 shops were suspended while FIR was lodged against 14 shops.
He said the Chhattisgarh Food and Nutrition Security Act 2012 is unique in the country as unlike other states which counts husband, wife and their unmarried children as members of a household. In other states people living in a house are taken as a family.
However, the Congress members stuck to their demand of taking immediate action to stop cancellation of ration cards of eligible people and to seek assurance to take action against ineligible card holders and the officers concerned. later, the Congress members sat on symbolic dharna holding placards and raising slogans against the State Government. They said that they would take recourse to judicial remedy for the cause of common people if they are denied justice.