'Poor' with income of more than Rs 6 lakh a year: Mamlatdar issues notice to 295 Lakhpati ration card holders in Deogarh Baria, seeks explanation, 195 have been made non-NFSA

As many as 295 Lakhpati ration card holders have come under the government's radar for illegally availing ration cards kept for the poor under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in Deogarh Baria taluka. The annual income of all these ration card holders is more than Rs 6 lakh, according to data from the central server of the Income Tax Department. Following the incident, the Deogarh Baria Mamlatdar has taken immediate action and issued notices to all such ration card holders and sought an explanation. The income tax department had sent the list The Income Tax Department had sent a list prepared from the central server to the Deogarh Baria Mamlatdar office, which contained the details of 295 ration card holders who have NFSA, BPL and Antyodaya Yojana ration cards despite not falling under the poverty line. As soon as the list was received, Mamlatdar Samir Patel sent notices to all the 295 ration card holders, seeking an explanation about their income and eligibility of ration cards. 195 ration cards made non-NFSA Deogarh Baria Mamlatdar Samir Patel said that as per the data received from the central server, these 295 ration card holders have shown an annual income of more than Rs 6 lakh in the income tax returns. Such people do not fall under the poverty line, yet they are taking advantage of the NFSA ration card. We have issued notices to all of them and sought an explanation. So far, 195 ration card holders have given an explanation, and the process of making their ration cards non-NFSA has been completed. The process of getting clarifications of the remaining 100 ration card holders is underway, and their ration cards will also be made non-NFSA and further verification will be done in this regard. At the same time, strict action will be taken against those who have illegal ration cards. Hundreds of people can still come forward! The incident has triggered a stir in Deogarh Baria taluka. If a strict and impartial investigation is conducted by the supply department, hundreds of people may still come forward who are taking advantage of government food grains despite not being eligible. By removing such people from the list, there has been a demand to give the benefit of the NFSA scheme to the really poor and needy people.