District Collector Umesh Kumar Agrawal has directed officials of different departments if they have ration card issued in their names or in the name of their relatives, they should immediately surrender them.
The Collector said that any Government officials who has got ration card issued in his or her name or in the name of their relatives should submit them to the Food Branch in the district. If they fail to do so, stern action would be taken again them if they are found holding any ration card.
Agrawal said he had received complaints about below poverty line ration cards issued to some Education Department employees and Panchayat workers. They should also surrender their cards, he said.
The State Government has directed that those who are ineligible but have issued such cards in their names should surrender the cards within 45 days. Some of those who are ineligible under the Chhattisgarh Food and Nutrition Security Act 2012 are the following-- If the head of the family or any member of family is an income tax payee, he or she is not eligible for ration card.
Similarly if anybody is a government employee or works in any state-run corporations or undertaking, civic bodies employed temporarily or permanently they are not eligible.
This however excludes daily wage earners and Class IV employees. In scheduled area, those who have more than ten acres of irrigated land, or having eight acres of or more of non irrigated land are not eligible.