2808 inspections were conducted over five years, revealing that 310 depot holders were flouting the rules. The highest number of fraud cases by depot holders occurred in Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, and Yamunanagar, with over 50 percent of reported cases in each of these four districts.
Surpassing neighboring Chine, the India has become most populous country in the world and a large section of the total population of the country is living below the poverty line. In such a situation, a sizable chunk of total population which falls under (Below Poverty Line) is being provided ration on subsidy by the government. Keeping food security in mind, the government provides grains to the people at low prices. But during the period from 2019 to 2023, several types of irregularities are also found regarding the distribution of ration by the ration depot holders. Official figures have revealed that 10 to 15 percent depot holders are involved in breach of norms in Haryana practicing irregularities. It also came to fore that the depot holders have kept in the records the names of deceased people for ration theft. It is pertinent to mention that the government of India has decided to provide free ration to people covered under the National Food Security Act. To provide free food grains to the poor, the government had started the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in 2020 with a provision of to distribute 5 kg grains per person per month through ration depots.
In wake of the seriousness of the gravity, the Food and Safety officials conducted continuous inspections during a period of five years to tighten the noose on depot holders who indulged in irregularities, During the period from 2019 to 2023, a total of 2808 inspections, with an annual average of 561 inspections, have been conducted in different districts, thus it is evident from the data the ration depot holders were found flouting the rules on a large scale for their greed of money. During this period, it was found that depot holders were found flouting the rules on a large scale. As many as 310 depot holders were found violating the rules in all the districts which led to lodging the FIR against the accused and cancellation of licenses of concerned depot holders.
Official data revealed that depot holders committed maximum fraud in Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh and Yamunanagar. In a period of five years, a many as 54 depot holders were found violating the rules in Gurugram followed by Faridabad, Yamunagar, Nuh and Hisar with 43, 41 , 31 and 21 defaulters respectively . Apart from this, the action in terms of filing FIR and cancellation of several depot initiated in other districts.
In a bid to ensure the interests of the beneficiaries, the Haryana State Govt. had also setup the State Consumer Helpline 1800-180-2087 at the headquarters of Food and Supplies Department in accordance with the directions and guidance of the Govt. of India, Haryana, Chandigarh. The State Consumer Helpline has come into existence from 12th August 2013 and the consumers from all over the Haryana can dial Toll-free number 1800-180-2087 to seek telephonic counseling for the redressal of their problems that they face as consumers.
Notably, Like other government schemes, there are irregularities in the aforementioned scheme and sometimes either ration is not available, or problems related to low weight and quality come to the fore. Many times such cases come to light in which people complain that the dealer refused to give them ration. At the same time, complaints of low weight or poor quality come to the fore. Wheat, sugar, mustard oil and millet are made available at the depot. During inspection at the depot, it was revealed that food grains were found at many places in the stock. Apart from this, such cases come to light at many places when the concerned person dies but the ration depot holder keeps his name in record. Complaints are also being received on CM window against depot holders doing this.
