STEALING THE BREAD

In trying circumstances enforced by the pandemic, the ration mafia working with the officially run PDS chain denies the poor their share of the food by lying and inventing inhuman alibi, writes Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

- Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

When free ration was being distributed among the beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ana Yojana (PMGKAY), many poorest of the poor in Budgam’s remote Goggee Pathri village were denied the same, this past Eid. Ali Jahara, 81, a Gujjar from the scheduled tribe, went to the Government sale centre of the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department (FCS & CA). The storekeeper told Jahara that he was dead as per records. Several other poor consumers were also denied free ration on one pretext or the other. All the aggrieved alerted Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, an activist living in an adjoining village.

Mushtaq video-recorded the statements of around six below poverty line (BPL) consumers in Goggee Pathri village. Mushtaq, well versed with the e-portal of the food department, cross-checked the details of the aggrieved residents on the online portal. Jahara, who was declared dead by the storekeeper, was very much registered on the e-portal. His name figured in the Antodaya Ana Yojna (AAY) category. Jahara and his wife Gulzara Begum were Aadhaar-linked as well. Similarly, Gulla Geege and Nazir Ahmad, two other locals who were denied free or subsidized rice on the eve of Eid were also registered as Priority Household (PHH) consumers on the e-portal.

Jahara, who was waiting for free ration announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was made to pay Rs 1,000 for 50 kg of rice (Rs 20/ Kg). Normally he would have paid only Rs 150 as subsidised rice is sold at Rs 3 per kg to BPL, PHH and AAY consumers as per the provisions of the National Food Security Act 2013 (NFSA).