Months have passed since Chief Minister Harish Rawat nudged the district administrations to identify and abrogate the spurious new ration cards issued under the flagship National Food Security Scheme. However, things remain bogged in the cesspool of bureaucratic bluster and indecisive chicanery.
The Dehradun Food and Civil Supply department is yet to launch the drive rightly to segregate and cancel such cards issued by the department officers mistakenly or otherwise. Dehradun DM Chandresh Kumar formed teams to verify the new ration cards against the framed yardsticks in the district after the CM had made the DMs accountable for the task. However, making a mockery of the CM’s directive, the teams are yet to launch the drive in right earnest.
To rectify the anomalies lurking in the issuance of new ration cards under NFSS in Dehradun district, the State Food and Civil Supply Minister Pritam Singh and Minister in- charge of Dehradun district and Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya had directed district magistrate Chandresh Kumar around a month ago to verify the new ration cards and to ensure the spurious cards be cancelled and the new ones be issued only to the intended beneficiaries. Though DM Kumar had formed teams headed by the chief development officer and the additional DM to work on the assigned task the officers felt tired after two or three days of launching the drive in their assigned areas and got mired in hibernation.
Earlier, Dehradun chief development officer AK Pandey said that block development officers, assistant block development officers and some other officers were assigned to verify the new ration cards on sample basis in the rural areas like Kalsi, Chakrata, Vikasnagar.
They were also directed to cancel those cards which are found false. ADM (administration) Jharna Kamthan had also earlier said that teams headed by sub- divisional magistrates had been formed and they had been directed to verify the new ration cards by visiting the houses in the city themselves to see things for themselves.
Initially, SDM and department officers had inspected some houses and cancelled some of the false cards. However, things were back to square one after some time.
The reality is that though one month has passed since things were taken up the DM Yadav is not in a position to affirm the number of such cards having been cancelled by the officers who were assigned for the same in the district. Moreover, after assuming charge, Dehradun DSO PS Pangti had said his priority would be to verify the new ration cards issued under the NFSS. However, he could not say how many cards have been cancelled, though a month has passed since he assumed charge. He just said some cards have been cancelled and this was just what he could say right now.
However, DM Kumar seems to have forgotten whether he had directed the officers to randomly check/ verify the new ration cards. When quizzed by this correspondent on the matter, DM Kumar said, “We would review the scheme and status of the verification process with the department officers next week.”
It should be mentioned here that Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Arya who had raised harangues over anomalies in the issuance of new ration cards under NFSS had said a large number of intended beneficiaries had remained deprived of the new ration cards while those who do not come under the scheme had been provided with the same. Without mincing words, he directly put the blame for the mess on the doorstep of the district Food and Civil Supply department.
The previous Dehradun district supply officer Shyam Arya, allegedly responsible for these anomalies, was transferred to Uttarkashi, but curiously, no action was taken against the inspectors and other departmental officials who work on the ground.
Notably, if National Food Security (NFS) Act is again implemented in the state around 62 lakh state’s population would be covered and would given five kilos of food grains comprising three kilos of rice and two kilos of wheat per person for Rs three and Rs two per kg respectively.