BHOPAL: It’s not just the below poverty line (BPL) people who are taking free ration from the Public Distribution System (PDS) shops in Madhya Pradesh. Even well-to-do individuals are taking free ration by posing as members of BPL families across the central Indian state.
The e-KYC (electronic know your customer) updating of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)-Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) across the state has revealed that more than 6.16 lakh beneficiaries drawing free ration across the state, actually hail from well-to-do families.
As per the ongoing e-KYC drive process earlier this month, a total of over 5.27 crore people were enrolled as beneficiaries under NFSA across the state, out of which more than 6.16 lakh have been identified as ineligible for free ration as they belong to well to do families.
The top five districts with the highest number of ineligible beneficiaries are Bhind (50,619), Barwani (33,633), Khargone (29,909), Rewa (26,053), and Morena (25,230).
Out of these five districts having the maximum number of ineligible beneficiaries drawing free ration from the PDS shops, Bhind and Morena are part of the Gwalior-Chambal region, the two neighbouring districts of Barwani and Khargone are part of the tribal dominated southwestern MP, while Rewa district is located in the Vindhya region, which neighbours Uttar Pradesh.
Even the Madhya Pradesh capital, Bhopal, has 13,033 such beneficiaries. One village, Nalkheda, which is located in Berasia tehsil of the state capital, has 200-plus such people, who’ve received notices from the government, as to why their E-ration cards shouldn’t be scrapped as they are ineligible for benefits under the scheme.
One such family in Nalkheda village of Bhopal, actually owns a big house and not one, but two cars, but still figures in the list of those eligible for drawing free ration under the scheme focusing on free rice, wheat and sugar distribution for the impoverished lot.
The government has already started the process of removing such ineligible beneficiaries from the list of those eligible for free ration under the NFSA, official sources said.