Glare on govt staff with BPL cards

TT, Jalpaiguri, Sept. 9: State food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick today said around 1.12 lakh digital BPL ration cards had been issued to well-off people like government employees and businessmen, who had concealed their financial background to avail themselves of foodgrains at Rs 2 per kg, in Jalpaiguri district.

He said the government would cancel those cards which were being issued following the introduction of the National Food Security Act, under which a BPL family would get 35kg of foodgrains at Rs 2 per kg in a month.

Mallick told The Telegraph over the phone from Calcutta today that in total, 18 lakh digital BPL ration cards were supposed to be distributed in Jalpaiguri district. "However, as the distribution started, it was found that around 3 lakh ration cards were lying unclaimed in the district food and supplies department. We asked those 3 lakh people to fill up a specific form (form III U) mentioning whether they were eligible for the BPL cards. Around 1.83 lakh of them filled up the forms and submitted the same to us. We found that all of them were eligible for the BPL cards," said the minister.

The digital ration cards are issued in the name of the head of the family. The cards contains details of every member in the family.

Mallick said as around 1.12 lakh cards were still left unpicked, a scrutiny of the applicants had begun with the help of the district administration.

"What we learnt during this eligibility check is shocking. All these people are ineligible to be in the BPL category. The ineligible people included state and central government employees, bank staff, well-off businessmen, people in high positions at private companies and corporate groups and other professionals. When the conversion process (from regular ration cards to digital ration cards) was in progress, those people submitted the applications by concealing their financial status," Mallick said.

"When we insisted that the necessary form be filled up mentioning whether they were eligible for the BPL cards or not, they did not turn up, fearing that they would be exposed. We will instruct our officials to cancel all such ration cards," he added.

Sources in the food and supplies department said when the conversion of regular ration cards into digital documents had started, an applicant had to tell the staff or ration dealers that if he/she was in the BPL category or not. "Many APL people hid their financial status. Besides, there was pressure on the staff to complete the process fast. So, we couldn't properly check the eligibility criteria," said a source.

Asked whether any step would be taken against those ineligible applicants, the minister said a decision on it was yet to be taken.