Ration card categorisation not permanent: Minister
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI, July 03, 2018 00:00 IST
R. Kamaraj
Officials have erred in grouping people, charges Opposition
The slotting of ration cards into five categories as per the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by officials after a survey is not permanent and is bound to change over a variety of factors, Food Minister R. Kamaraj said in the Assembly on Monday.
Congress MLA S. Rajesh Kumar (Killiyoor) raised the issue in the House and claimed that the officials had not properly categorised the cards and had issued ‘all commodities’ cards to the rich and vice versa.
As on May 31 this year, 1,96,16,093 ration cards are categorised into five types: 76,99,940 Priority Household cards (all commodities, including rice), 18,64,600 Priority Households-Antyodaya Anna Yojana cards (all commodities, including 35 kg of rice), 90,08,842 Non-priority Household cards (all commodities, including rice), 10,01,605 Non-priority Household-Sugar cards (sugar option cards) and 41,106 ‘no commodity’ cards.
As per the NFSA norms, women-headed families and those with differently-abled/mentally challenged persons were to be marked as priority cards, Mr. Kamaraj explained.
The categorisation was not permanent and all would be covered in the distribution of items, he added.
He said that a total of 5,47,550 duplicate ration cards had been identified and eliminated since June 1, 2011.
Mr. Kamaraj also rejected the charges levelled by Mr. Rajesh Kumar that the food grains distributed in the PDS shops were not of good quality.
The Killiyoor MLA claimed that the rice in PDS shops were hard since they were put through the pressure boiling system, unlike the sortex system in private mills. Responding to an allegation levelled by DMK MLA G. Anbalagan (Kumbakonam) that rice was not being distributed properly in some places, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said it was not true and said a maximum of 35 kg of rice was issued to eligible cards.
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI, July 03, 2018 00:00 IST
R. Kamaraj
Officials have erred in grouping people, charges Opposition
The slotting of ration cards into five categories as per the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by officials after a survey is not permanent and is bound to change over a variety of factors, Food Minister R. Kamaraj said in the Assembly on Monday.
Congress MLA S. Rajesh Kumar (Killiyoor) raised the issue in the House and claimed that the officials had not properly categorised the cards and had issued ‘all commodities’ cards to the rich and vice versa.
As on May 31 this year, 1,96,16,093 ration cards are categorised into five types: 76,99,940 Priority Household cards (all commodities, including rice), 18,64,600 Priority Households-Antyodaya Anna Yojana cards (all commodities, including 35 kg of rice), 90,08,842 Non-priority Household cards (all commodities, including rice), 10,01,605 Non-priority Household-Sugar cards (sugar option cards) and 41,106 ‘no commodity’ cards.
As per the NFSA norms, women-headed families and those with differently-abled/mentally challenged persons were to be marked as priority cards, Mr. Kamaraj explained.
The categorisation was not permanent and all would be covered in the distribution of items, he added.
He said that a total of 5,47,550 duplicate ration cards had been identified and eliminated since June 1, 2011.
Mr. Kamaraj also rejected the charges levelled by Mr. Rajesh Kumar that the food grains distributed in the PDS shops were not of good quality.
The Killiyoor MLA claimed that the rice in PDS shops were hard since they were put through the pressure boiling system, unlike the sortex system in private mills. Responding to an allegation levelled by DMK MLA G. Anbalagan (Kumbakonam) that rice was not being distributed properly in some places, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said it was not true and said a maximum of 35 kg of rice was issued to eligible cards.
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