FALSE ADDRESSES IN MOST CARDS
20L bogus ration cards seized
Clara Lewis I TNN
Mumbai: The rationing department has uncovered 20 lakh bogus ration cards in its latest drive carried out in January this year, said Anil Deshmukh, minister for food and civil supplies.
Information procured under the Right to Information Act by social activist Anil Galgali showed that over 10 lakh bogus cards are from Mumbai, Thane and Pune regions. The remainder are from the rest of Maharashtra. The majority of bogus cards are the orange cards (above poverty line). These cards are issued to people whose annual income is less than Rs 1 lakh and are eligible for drawing foodgrain from the public distribution system. Last year, the state government had weeded out 29 lakh bogus ration cards.
Deshmukh said most of these cards had false addresses. Verification was done on the basis of the electoral roll number, which is unique for every voter, electricity bill, house rent bill and income tax receipt. “Most of the bogus ration card holders were procuring foodgrain using these cards,’’ said Deshmukh, adding that the cards for long have been carrying a line stating that they cannot be used as proof of residence. Recently, chief secretary J P Dange too had issued a circular to all government organisations to not ask for the ration card as proof of residence.
The government has now introduced a biometric system. “We have begun capturing the thumb impression of all those mentioned in a ration card. There are around 2.5 crore ration cards. We shall be completing the exercise within a year, he said.