MYSURU/BENGALURU: Just months after assuming power, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, which is plagued with corruption charges, is facing another serious allegation. PDS Distributors’ Association state president T Krishnappa, in a press meet held at Mandya on Thursday, alleged that officers of the food and civil supplies department are collecting commission for every ration card from PDS distributors.
Krishnappa said there is a rate card for the commission that is followed at various places. “For a fair price shop that has 500 cards (for PDS distribution), a distributor has to pay Rs 3,000 as commission to the officer. It is Rs 4,000 for shops with 800-1.000 cards. Higher officials have even set a target for their lower-rung staff.
A high-level probe has to be ordered and officials must be suspended,” he demanded. He urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to hold a meeting with PDS distributors, who will give him information about corrupt officials. He warned that the chief minister’s brainchild Anna Bhagya will turn out to be a big failure if the commission racket is not stopped.
Krishnappa has also written to Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa, mentioning a particular incident at Pavagada. The minister has now ordered a probe. “We have evidence that for the last four years, food shirastedar Krishnamurthy and food inspector Manjunath have been collecting Rs 2,000-3,000 from each distributor per month to release the commission amount due to distributors.
This means that even after the change in government, corruption has continued. It will reflect on the image of the present government, ” Krishnappa told TNIE. Officials resort to the strategy of delaying the implementation of government proposals to get a bribe from distributors.
“Even as the Central government has issued an order to release Rs 24 per quintal of foodgrains as additional commission to distributors, officials have not taken any step,” he alleged. He urged the government to take strict action against corrupt officials, besides transferring those who have overstayed in the same place for several years. Krishnappa said the government owes a commission to the tune of over Rs 1.5 crore to distributors.