Mohd Irfan
The Department of Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS& CA) has installed the point of sale machine with a motto to check ration Pilferage in the Public distribution system. Consumers get a ration from the ration depots only after installing their thumb expression on the POS machine. Now, the moot question has arisen for sympathetic consideration that when POS machines have been installed on the ration depots then misappropriation of the ration should not have taken place. POS Machine established the receipts wherein all the details of the consumers were mentioned. Even the category to which the consumers are affiliated and also of the Flour and Rice quantity to which the consumers are entitled.
Scores of consumers complained that ration dealers not disbursing the ration as per the quota which can be evident from the fact that receipts from the POS Machine showed the quota for nonpriority households meaning there by per individual flour is 4 per kg and if in one family there are four family members as such they get 16 kg of Flour per month. Even the POS machine shows that 16 per kg of flour is to be disbursed amongst the four members of a family. But to the utter shock, dismay, and chagrin of the consumers’ ration dealers purportedly reduced the ration quota that is per individual they are disbursing 3 kg and 800 gms. Four members in a family of non-priority households get a Flour 15 kgs 200gms. If the receipt from the POS machine shows that a single family member gets 4 per kg then why do the ration dealers reduce the quota of their own? This is a million-dollar question that begs an answer.
Whether any order of the department which reduced the ration quota? If there has been some order then the same should be put in the public domain in respect of reduction in ration quota. Whether these ration dealers are not accountable for resorting to the swindling of ration? Whether these Ration dealers are smart enough in terms of fleecing the consumers? Whether the department has its own duty to check the ration dealers’ functioning that they are disbursing the ration as per the quantity to the gullible consumers? Whether the officers of the department that is Tehsil supply officers, inspectors, etc. not have to visit the ration depots to check the disbursing of the ration? Several questions remained unanswered.
Ration dealers continue to fleece the consumers in respect of the reduction of quota from the department thanks to the apathetic and indifferent attitude of the department that their failure to check the ration distribution amongst the consumers resulting in paying a heavy price to the consumers meaning thereby they are getting less ration as a comparison to the allotted quota sanctioned by the department. Now, the quota of ration which the ration dealers have reduced where do they disbursed the same. Whether that ration being sold in the black marketing obviously it has been sold therein, so that in order to make a fast buck and nothing else. Gullible consumers have to bear the brunt for no fault of theirs as they don’t know first of all that they have to take the POS receipts of the ration from the ration dealers, which these ration dealers kept with themselves and not of their own give the same to the consumers. Whether the ration dealers do not have to give the POS ration receipts to the consumers of the ration they have taken? If the POS ration receipts are given then the gullible consumers come to know about their ration quota. But alas! the ration receipts not be given which caused the consumers to get fleeced and be deprived of their due share of the PDS ration. It’s High time for the department to organize awareness camps given the gullible consumers are not aware of the procedure of disbursement of the ration otherwise these ration dealers continue to make hay while the sun shines.
