Act fast on fake ration cards: HC

BENGALURU: The high court on Friday directed the department of food and civil supplies and consumer affairs to initiate proceedings to curb the menace of fake ration cards at the earliest.A division bench headed by acting chief justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee gave this direction while disposing of a PIL filed by L Vasudeva Murthy, a consulting engineer."The presence of over 10 lakh ineligible/unlawful BPL and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards is the root cause of unlawful diversion of foodgrains to the black market. Due to this, the government is suffering a monthly loss of over Rs 81 crore. In other words, bogus ration cards are being used by department officials, politicians and fair-price shop owners to siphon off foodgrains, sugar and kerosene worth crores of rupees," the petitioner had stated.