1,520 ration cards surrendered in Lko so far

LUCKNOW/AGRA/PRAYAGRAJ: As many as 1,520 ration cardholders of the state capital have surrendered their cards fearing legal action. The move is a sequel to recent UP government’s guidelines directing ineligible ration card-holders to return their cards or else face legal action under National Food Security Act 2013.

The government has also highlighted the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the ration card-holders to ensure that only deserving people get the benefit. Officials said many more people were likely to surrender the ration cards.

The UP government’s move came two months after the state assembly elections, in which the free ration distribution scheme is believed to have had a tremendous impact on the BJP’s victory.

“So far, around 1,520 people have surrendered their cards and the number is expected to rise. However, the verification is still on and the ration card holders are being scrutinized to check their eligibility,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, district supply officer (DSO), Lucknow.

As per the district supply office record, currently there are 7,86,218 ration cards in the state capital, covering around 31,18,110 units (people).

The government guidelines specify that the residents are ineligible to hold a ration card if one of the members of the family pays income tax, owns a vehicle, more than one member holds an arms licence, or if a member has an annual income of more than Rs 3 lakh in urban areas and Rs 2 lakh in rural areas, or the person owns a house, flat or a commercial space of more than 100 square feet area. Also, the families who own a four-wheeler/ tractor/harvester/ air-conditioner or generator set at home are considered ineligible to hold ration cards as well, the guideline says. A senior official said the district administration would send recovery notices to those ineligible people who did not submit their ration cards by May 20 and may initiate legal action against them under provisions of NFS Act 2013.

2k forego ration cards in Mathura

In Agra division, more than 2,000 people have surrendered their ration cards in Mathura, while 300 have done it so far in Agra district. Mathura DM Navneet Singh Chahal, through a press statement issued by information office recently, urged people not eligible for ration cards to surrender their cards at the earliest .“The defaulters will be liable to pay cost of wheat at the rate of Rs 24 per kg and rice at Rs 32 per kg since the day of receiving the ration without being eligible for that,” stated the DM.

1005 surrender cards in Prayagraj

Prayagraj has 10.62 lakh ration card holders while the count of Antyodaya ration card holders stands at 88,108. Officials shared that there are about 15,000 people in urban areas and another 20,000 in rural areas who have applied for new ration cards.

District supply officer (DSO), Prayagraj, Anand Singh said: “Efforts to identify ineligible people deriving benefit of ration card are underway and their cards would be cancelled. Action too would be initiated against the, as per norms, including recovery of rations,” he warned.

The DSO said around 1005 people have already surrendered their ration cards.