New colours to root out fake ration cards in Bengal

The West Bengal Government has decided to cancel all existing ration cards for the public distribution system and issue new ones, a move aimed at getting rid of the fake cards that have increased over the past few years.

‘‘There has been a slew of fake ration cards in the state and the government is concerned about it,’’ state Minister for Consumer Affairs and Cooperation Naren Dey said, in reply to a question on PDS from an MLA. ‘‘To do away with these cards, we have decided to cancel old ones and introduce new cards which will be of different colours. Those who are above poverty line will have to pay a certain amount of money to get these new cards but those below poverty line won’t have to pay anything for this,’’ the minister said. He, however, did not specify the amount to be paid for new cards.

At present, those above the poverty line hold around 5.67 crore cards while BPL families hold 2.36 crore cards. The state has, on several occasions, spoken of large-scale infiltration from Bangladesh and Bangladeshi nationals’ getting Indian ration cards to stay on.