Nabarangpur: In a shocking revelation, taxpayers and government employees in Nabarangpur district have been found illegally holding ration cards and availing free rice meant for the poor. State-level data has exposed how many well-off individuals in the district have been wrongfully benefiting from food security schemes, depriving the truly needy of their rights. There is now a demand for action against these ineligible beneficiaries and recovery of financial losses.
To curb such misuse, the government has made Aadhaar card linking mandatory for ration cardholders. Following this move, several government employees and wealthy traders were found to be holding ration cards illegally. The irregularities were detected among employees from departments like police, ICDS, revenue, education, health, and block offices. Officials ranging from peons to engineers were among those fraudulently possessing ration cards.
According to official data, 1,080 taxpayers in the district have been wrongfully holding ration cards, with 4,533 family members benefiting. Similarly, 1,685 government employees, along with 6,683 family members, have been illegally receiving food under the Food Security Scheme for years. Altogether, 2,765 families with 11,216 members have been receiving free rice each month.
Based on a 5 kg per member per month allocation, these affluent individuals have received 560 quintals of rice monthly and 6,729 quintals annually, amounting to a government loss of Rs2.15 crore.