Shimla: In a move to curb the menace of fake ration cards, the Himachal Pradesh government has identified and blocked 34 thousand of such cards. The fake ration cardholders were availing of subsidized ration by making double entries in the system. The state government had directed the Food Civil and Consumer Affairs Department to verify ration cards with Aadhaar cards to weed out the fakes.
The list of fake ration cardholders has been put up on the departmental website, and the government has informed other states to remove the names of these members from the ration cards made in their states. The central government has been pushing for a unified ration card system across the country, and the state government’s action is in line with that goal.
In addition to the fake ration cards, the government has also identified cases where the names of married women have not been removed from the ration cards, even though they have been added to their husbands’ cards. This has resulted in more people availing of subsidized ration than they are entitled to.
There are 19.5 lakh ration cardholder families in the state, and the government is providing subsidized ration, including pulses, oil, sugar, and salt, at half the market price. The central government is also providing subsidized flour and rice. The government’s move to block the fake ration cards will ensure that the subsidized ration reaches the genuine beneficiaries and not those who have been availing of it by fraudulent means.
Ravindra Thakur, Joint Director, Food Civil and Consumer Affairs Department, confirmed that the final figure of double entries in the ration cards received from the districts is 34,000, and the information has been shared on the departmental website.
The government’s action is expected to save a significant amount of money that would have otherwise been siphoned off through fraudulent means. The state government’s action against fake ration cards is a commendable step towards ensuring that the benefits of its welfare schemes reach those who need it the most.
