Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have detected as many as 98,000 fake ration cards and this scam was badly affecting the functioning of the public distribution system in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
During verifications of the existing ration cards issued by the Department of Food, Civil Supply, and Consumer Affairs, authorities detected that as many as 98,000 families were getting subsidized ration from two places simultaneously through fraudulent means.
Now, the authorities have come into action and initiated the process of blocking such ration cards to rectify the details of the family members. Due to this fraud, the Jammu and Kashmir government was incurring a loss of Rs 20 crore in distributing ration every month.
Fake ration card scam exposed during e-verification
Sources in the department said that fake ration cards were detected during the ongoing e-verification process started to single out duplicate cards. After getting information regarding fake ration cards, the department has started re-verification of all cardholders through Aadhaar cards.
The thumb impressions and other details of the consumers were entered online during e-verification to detect fake consumers.
"As of now, over 98,000 families have been detected which were getting subsidized ration", sources said and after completion of the verification process, the new authenticated list will be released.
Non-locals also ration from two places
Not only natives of Jammu and Kashmir, but some non-locals were also singled out for getting ration from two places.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have made a provision to provide provisional ration cards to non-locals living in the UT to get subsidized ration. "A huge chunk of these non-locals are getting ration from J&K and their native states also," sources said and added that authorities have started campaign to identify such people also. Records have also been sought from other states to detect such people.
Assistant Director, Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Department, Vipin Bhagat said that Aadhaar based e-rationing has been started across the UT. Ration cards have been linked with Aadhar to bring transparency to the system. "Many people who were getting ration from two places have been detected," he said and added that all such ration cards were cancelled.
Consumers with fake cards asked to clear their position
Officials in the department said that the process of rectifying the details of the ration cards was carried out in a way that both the cards - where a particular family member has been registered were blocked, and then the consumer was directed to state the facts and it was made sure that entry of a particular member was kept at one single place.
