Number of poorest of poor families availing PDS falls by 1 lakh in state

The number of “poorest of poor” families availing the Public Distribution System (PDS) has fallen by 1 lakh across the state,according to food and civil supply department officials. This is attributed to the state government’s move to issue barcoded ration cards which began in 2010. The process of issuing about 1.05 crore barcoded ration cards in the state will be completed by August this year.

However,the drive to convert regular ration cards into barcoded ones,with biometric details of at least one member of the family,has led to the scrapping of about 20 lakh bogus ration cards. These cards belonged to families in all categories — poorest of poor,Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL). Of these cancelled ration cards,nearly 1 lakh belonged to families classified as “poorest of poor”,officials said.

“The number of poorest of poor families stood at 8.10 lakh,according to the review done by the department in 2002. After the drive for barcoded ration cards,it now stands at 7.26 lakh families,” said J K Astik,Public Information Officer with the Food and Civil Supply Department. “Our latest survey found that in the poorest of poor category almost 1 lakh cards were bogus,’’ the official said.

The state government,however,has been receiving cereals (15,473 tonne wheat and over 31,000 tonne rice) from the Centre under PDS as per old figures.