'Chai', 'Cup' among names of beneficiaries in fake ration cards

BAREILLY: Many people taking benefits from the food and supply department in Bareilly have been fooling authorities with fake ration cards that have names like ‘Chai’ and ‘Cup’. Majority of such ration cards were found in Aundh village under Meerganj tehsil of district.
Talking to TOI, district supply officer K L Tiwari said, “While a departmental inquiry is on, verification process too is likely to be completed soon after which department will get full account of all such fake accounts.Names of all such beneficiaries will be struck off from the list of beneficiaries.”
According to officials, as many as 40 ration cards from Aundh village alone were found with fictitious names during the verification process carried out by the department. “More such ration cards are likely to be found by officials as the verification process is still on and is likely to be completed by May 23,” they said.
Tiwari, on other hand, was quick to add that possibilities of typing errors cannot be ruled out in the matter. He said, “The name ‘Chhaya’ can very well be printed as ‘Chai’ due to a typing error or even due to an autocorrect by the computer software.”
“It will be too soon to comment anything at present. Let the inquiry be completed after which department is all set to take stringent action against all accused,” the DSO added.
According to local officials, however, ration card number ‘215040446584’, which is allotted in name of ‘Chai’, is just an example to show how many people in the tehsil were availing benefits from the food and supply department after making fool of authorities with such fake ration cards.
While the National Food Security Act, which aimed at curbing black marketing and all other forms of forgery in public distribution system, was implemented across district on March 1, the department continues to draw criticism due to various glaring leakages.