An investigation led by the Office of the Assistant Director for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs in Doda has revealed a concerning case of deliberate inclusion of an ineligible household in the Priority Households (PHH) category, resulting in the imposition of penal rates on the responsible Fair Price (FP) shop dealer.
The Assistant Director, responding to a complaint endorsed by the Deputy Commissioner of Doda, exposed the irregularity involving the inclusion of an ineligible family, whose son is a government employee in the Jammu and Kashmir Police Department, as per order copy available with The Chenab Times. The family was listed under the PHH ration card category at the FP Shop Roti Padrana Gundana.
The FP shop dealer, identified as Zulfikar Ali, as per order copy, was served a show cause notice regarding this matter. However, his response was found to be non-convincing and unsatisfactory, indicating a deliberate attempt to conceal discrepancies with the intention of benefiting the ineligible family. This deceptive act not only deprived deserving beneficiaries of their rightful entitlements under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) but also incurred losses to the government exchequer.
In adherence to a circular instruction issued by the Office of the Assistant Director, all Tehsil Supply Officers, salesmen, and FP shop dealers were warned against concealing facts related to ration distribution. Such attempts were declared liable to prompt the debiting of ration quantities distributed to ineligible households at penal rates from the defaulting FP shop dealers.
The investigation further disclosed that Zulfikar Ali had provided a certificate asserting that the Ration List of his Fair Price Shop exclusively consisted of eligible and deserving households/beneficiaries under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and PHH categories, as per State Order-389. He claimed that no affluent or non-deserving families were included in the NFSA beneficiaries’ list.
In light of these revelations, an official order has been issued, directing the debiting of the calculated amount from the FP shop dealer’s account. The amount, calculated based on the details available on the electronic Point of Sale (e-POS) system, amounts to Rs 18,750. The Assistant Director invoked Clause 35 of the Jammu and Kashmir Targeted Public Distribution (Control) Order, 2023, to impose this penalty.
The concerned Tehsil Supply Officer is now tasked with ensuring that Zulfikar Ali remits the debited amount to the revolving fund account within seven days. Failure to comply may result in further action as per rules, with recovery being made from the FP dealer’s margin or commission.
Anzer Ayoob is the Founder and Chief Editor to The Chenab Times