Show-cause to 20 PDS shops owners in Jamshedpur, six thousand ineligible ration cards cancelled

Jamshedpur:  The Deputy Commissioner, Ananya Mittal,  issued show-cause notices to all 20 PDS shops defaulters, instructing them to submit explanations within five days. The Supply Officer and the District Supply Officer were directed to suspend the licenses of those failing to provide satisfactory responses.

Mittal held a review meeting with nodal officers of all blocks regarding the inspection reports of Public Distribution System (PDS) shops. The meeting aimed to ensure the effective functioning of ration distribution and to address irregularities in the system.

During the meeting, nodal officers submitted reports on the inspection of five PDS shops each, as per the directive issued earlier. Six block officers and three municipal officers attended the meeting, while nodal officers from five other blocks were absent due to ongoing inspections in remote areas.

The reports revealed that 13 PDS shop operators had kept their stores closed despite prior notification, while seven others were found distributing less than the allotted food grains. In response, the District Magistrate issued show-cause notices to all 20 defaulters, instructing them to submit explanations within five days. The Supply Officer and the District Supply Officer were directed to suspend the licenses of those failing to provide satisfactory responses.

The District Magistrate emphasized the role of vigilance committees in overseeing the distribution of food grains. Instructions were given to the Supply Officer and the District Supply Officer to notify beneficiaries in advance about the monthly distribution schedule. Additionally, members of the monitoring committees, including village heads, were asked to be present during ration distribution.

To ensure timely delivery, officials of the supply department were directed to complete doorstep delivery of food grains within ten days of receiving stocks at the warehouse.

The district administration has been actively identifying and canceling ration cards issued to ineligible beneficiaries. Over the past month, six thousand such cards have been revoked, and an equal number of new ration cards have been issued in their place.

The District Magistrate instructed officials to process ration card deletion applications received through dealers or block offices within three days. Furthermore, all Marketing Officers were ordered to complete inspections of every PDS shop in their respective areas within the next two months.

The review meeting was attended by Deputy Development Commissioner Aniket Sachan, PDI-DTA Dipankar Choudhary, Dhalbhum Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shatabdi Mazumdar, Additional Deputy Commissioner Bhagirath Prasad, NEP Director Santosh Garg, Supply Officer Rahul Anand, District Supply Officer Salman Jafar Khijri, District Panchayati Raj Officer Rinku Kumari, District Transport Officer Dhananjay, District Land Acquisition Officer Gunjan Sinha, and District Planning Officer Mrityunjay Kumar, among others.