BJP MPs meet Union Minister Piyush Goyal over anomalies in free ration distribution

By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR:  Upping the ante in opposition to the State authorities over faux ration playing cards in circulation, the BJP on Thursday requested Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal for an inquiry into the alleged anomalies in distribution of free ration to NFSA beneficiaries in Odisha in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A delegation of six BJP MPs from the State together with Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw met Goyal and submitted a memorandum alleging enormous discrepancies between allocation and distribution of meals grains below Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

Under PMGKAY, about 12.94 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of meals grains for the interval April-November, 2020 was allotted freed from value to greater than 92.77 lakh NFSA card holders overlaying 3.24 crore beneficiaries in Odisha of which 12.5 LMT was lifted. In addition to meals grains, about 27,853.89 MT pulses had additionally been allotted for the interval April-November, 2020. 

In 2021, about 11.35 LMT meals grains have been allotted freed from value to Odisha for the interval May-November of which 6.22 LMT has been lifted.

“It is concerning to note that lifting of food grains under PMGKAY and NFSA schemes is below 10 per cent in 15 districts, most of which are backward and tribal-dominated. This was indicated by the Managing Director of Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation in his July 14 letter to all district managers-cum-civil supplies officers,” the memorandum stated.

Pointing out the discrepancies between the allocation and distribution of meals grains below PMGKAY and NFSA throughout May and June this yr, the BJP MPs stated that the presence of round 5 lakh ghost beneficiaries within the checklist of NFSA ration card holders can’t be dominated out. 

They cited media experiences on PDS meals grains being smuggled to the open market at the price of the poor and the needy who’re left ravenous. Besides, in blatant violation of the Central guideline for giving large publicity to the distribution of free ration in the course of the pandemic, the State authorities resorted to misbranding the scheme by selling the picture Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to provide the impression that the free meals distribution is being completed by the BJD authorities, they additional alleged.