Ration card beneficiaries more than HP population

Himachal Pradesh,a hill state which boasts about its popular scheme to provide subsidised ration to 16.31 lakh ration card holders,costing Rs 135 crore to the exchequer every year,has beneficiaries more than the states population of 68.50 lakh.

Himachal Pradesh,a hill state which boasts about its popular scheme to provide subsidised ration to 16.31 lakh ration card holders,costing Rs 135 crore to the exchequer every year,has beneficiaries more than the states population of 68.50 lakh.

This was an interesting revelation which the states minister for Food and Supplies Ramesh Dhawala made in the state assembly,on Friday,during question hour in response to a query by Vipin Parmar (BJP) and Nand Lal (Congress).

Dhawala said the number of beneficiaries as per the ration cards issued by the department exceeds the total population of Himachal Pradesh by 5.50 lakh. The total population of the state as per these ration cards is 74 lakh while the actual population as per 2011 census was 68.50 lakh, he said.

He claimed that the state was finding it difficult to cope with the increased numbers of beneficiaries under the PDS as the Union government was providing subsidised ration only for a population of 60 lakh,as per 2001 census.

The minister said that as many as 6,787 bogus ration cards have already been canceled. He also accused the Centre of discriminating against Himachal and cutting down kerosene oil quota by 55 percent.

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