Residents allege bungling of grains by ration depot holders in Verka

Amritsar, May 1

Residents of Verka today accused ration depot holders of the area of bungling wheat released under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana in connivance with officials of the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs here.

They alleged that bogus members were added in ration cards without knowledge of ration card holders to embezzle food grains by issuing fake allotment in formers names. Kulwant Singh Verka, a resident of the Verka, and former president of the local Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Nanaksar Gurdwara, said there were around 26 ration depot holders in the township.

He alleged that ration depot holders were bungling huge quantity of wheat under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. Verka said he gathered information regarding the number of beneficiaries in his area. Verka said he found huge discrepancies in the number of beneficiaries of the scheme. He alleged that that two to three additional names had been added in majority of ration cards. Not only this, wheat was given to these bogus members after informing genuine beneficiaries that their quota of grains did not arrive.

He alleged that this cannot happen without the connivance of officials of the department concerned. Meanwhile, residents demanded an impartial probe into the matter.

Sartaj Singh Cheema, District Food and Civil Supply Controller, said he would get the matter investigated. He said if any official was found involved in bungling, stern action would be taken against him/them.