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Karimnagar ration dealers excoriate KCR’s decision
Ration shops dealers and common people across the State are raising a hue and cry over the decision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to implement direct benefit transfer for beneficiaries.
Karimnagar: Ration shops dealers and common people across the State are raising a hue and cry over the decision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to implement direct benefit transfer for beneficiaries.
In the united Karimnagar district, there are about 2,000 ration dealers and as many as 11 lakh ration card holders. A ration shop dealer will get about 20 paisa from each card holder and Rs 10 for each rice bag, making his monthly income about Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 depending on the number of card holders.
Unable to run the ration shops with less income, the ration shop dealers in the State requested the government to increase their commission. “Instead of pursuing our request, the government is taking steps to shut down the ration shops present across the State, giving the reasons of smuggling of PDS rice to other states,” ration shop dealers criticised.
The State leader of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Merugu Ramana said, “More than 50 per cent of population, who are getting free rice as part of the government scheme, would be deprived with the decision of shutting down of the ration shops.”
It is not possible for even middle-class people to bear the ever-increasing prices of various commodities in the market. Then how the people below poverty-level will survive? Ramana questioned.
It is not wise for the government to shut down the ration shops across the State, instead of taking tight security measures to stop the illegal transport of PDS rice, Ramana pointed.
A daily labourer of Ramadugu mandal of Karimnagar district, Rajaiah said that he earns a very meagre amount from his daily work. “My entire family is totally dependent on the 36 kgs of rice supplied by the government through ration card, without which the sustenance of my family is impossible. The ration card is the main source of our livelihood. How can we live if the government decides to close down ration shops,” questioned the worried Rajaiah.
District president of Ration Dealers Adapala Ramesh Babu stated that the decision of closing of ration shops would affect 18,000 dealers across the State. The government has stopped the supply of some commodities except a few, due to which the commission earned by dealers came down drastically even though many ration dealers are running the shops successfully, he said.
The rumour of illegal diversion of PDS rice was only a false propaganda to close the rations shops. Irregularities in ration shops had come to zero with installation of e-POS machines in all ration shops across the State, he added.
Moreover, the government has tightened the rules to check diversion of PDS rice and black marketing by installing GPS on ration transport vehicle and biometric devices in rations shops that are connected to the central server in civil supplies head office, he informed.
