Irregularities in Ration distribution discussed in TP meet

Mangalore, April 30: Irregularities in Ration distribution dominated the discussion at the general meet of Taluk Panchayat in the city on Monday.

Panchayat members representing Manjanady, Ulaibettu, and others raised the issue of irregularities in Ration distribution.

While some said that action has not been taken against those Ration shops which are irritating the masses, some others groused that Ration cards of many poor people have been wrongly cancelled by the authorities.

Responding to the charges, the Tahshildar said that notices have been sent to ration shops which are not doing their duty and further violations will result in cancellation of their licenses.

Another Panchayat member raised the issue of APL card holders being given mere 5 kilos of rice instead of the usual 10 kilos to which, the official of the concerned department replied that it was as per the government order. He also mentioned that some of the names that have been taken off from the list was due to a government notification concerning updating of Ration card details where those families failed to provide the necessary documents.

Expressing his concern, MLA U T Khader questioned the official of the concerned department as to why the government notifications had not been made public. He also blamed the officials in the Panchayat for not notifying the people of the latest developments whose names they had left out while computerizing data. Bhavya Gangadhara Poojary, President, Taluk Panchayat then ordered the concerned official to publish the government notifications in newspapers.

Another issue that was raised was concerning high interests to the tune of 10-12% being charged for loans being taken by Sthree Shakti Sanghas when the government had specified in the state budget that loans would be provided to them at 4% interest. Responding to this, the concerned official said that the government had not issued any circular to this effect.