Cheap ration shop (symbolic picture)
Digital Desk, Bhopal. A shocking revelation has come to light regarding the distribution of free ration in the state. Investigation has revealed that about 32 thousand people with monthly income of more than Rs 50 thousand were also taking the benefit of free ration. After investigation based on the list of suspected beneficiaries sent by the Government of India, the names of these ineligible people have been removed from the ration list.
According to the Food and Civil Supplies Department, the Central Government had sent the list of those beneficiaries whose annual income is more than Rs 6 lakh, or who come under the purview of GST or are operators of any company. After this, verification was done across the state through collectors.
Investigation revealed that the annual income of 32,379 beneficiaries is more than Rs 6 lakh. Apart from this, 143 GST taxpayers and 6,170 company operators were also taking free ration under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
It is noteworthy that to help the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Central Government had started the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, under which free food grains are being provided every month. At present, free ration is distributed to 5.25 crore beneficiaries in the state, on which approximately Rs 22,600 crore is spent.
Earlier, names of about 20 lakh ineligible beneficiaries have already been removed through e-KYC due to reasons like being dead, having migrated or having their names registered at more than one place. After this, action was taken on the list of beneficiaries of high income group.
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Eligibility slip canceled by giving notice
Food Civil Supplies Commissioner Karmaveer Sharma said that in all the cases first notice was issued and investigation was done. Only after confirming that the eligibility has ended, the ration distribution has been stopped by canceling the eligibility slips of the concerned persons. He clarified that no punitive action will be taken in these cases, because it is possible that the person concerned may have been eligible at the time of issuing the eligibility slip.
Where, how many ineligible people were taking free ration?
District - Beneficiaries Indore - 7561 Chhindwara - 2800 Ujjain - 2632 Bhind - 1932 Betul - 1625 Ratlam - 1469 Dewas - 1322 Damoh - 1030 Bhopal - 73 Jabalpur - 673 Gwalior - 9