Another reason - Indian Express Editorial
8th June 2010
In the hierarchy of sins, robbing the poorest of the poor is right up there. That is what the holders of the 11.28 lakh fake ration cards in Madhya Pradesh are guilty of. By state government estimates, these duplicates constitute 16 per cent of all ration cards in the state. Since the Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya (meant for the very poorest) cards entitle holders to essential food commodities such as wheat and rice at subsidised rates, fake cards rip off the public exchequer. MP isn’t an isolated case. In March, a committee appointed by the Supreme Court described the Rs 28,000 crore annual subsidy the Centre provides for the PDS as “inefficient and corrupt”. Nor is the PDS any different from other welfare schemes that India provides its poor. From duplicate PAN numbers to bogus NREGA job cards, leakage in delivery of basic services is the Achilles Heel of the world’s largest democracy.