Kendrapara: NFSA beneficiaries of a village in Aul block have to travel 20-25 km to collect their monthly quota of rations from their nearest retail centres. This way, they spend nearly double the amount of subsidy they avail under the Central scheme, a report said.
As many as 42 beneficiaries of Manikapatana gram panchayat under Aul block have been collecting their monthly subsidised rations from dealers, whose counters are situated 20 to 25 km away from the village.
“We had given the nearest dealers’ names while applying for ration cards. But due to callousness of officials concerned, the dealers whose counters are 20-25 km away from our village have been entrusted to supply rations,” said Padmanav Panda, a beneficiary.
For the last four months, 42 beneficiaries, including several elderly women, have been going to retail counters located at Gobindapur, Koladiha and Mahu, which are not less than 20 km away from their village, to collect their monthly ration quotas, said Pramila Parida, another beneficiary.
The beneficiaries have been spending not less than Rs 50 each per month towards conveyance for collecting rations.
“Though we get subsidised rice, to collect it we have to spend Rs 50,” said Sarat Kumar Rout, a resident of Manikapatana.
“We have brought our plight to the notice of officials from panchayat to district level, but it yielded no results,” alleged Padmanav.
According to reports, this is just the tip of the iceberg. More than 1,200 NFSA beneficiaries of 32 panchayats under the block have been facing the same problem in collecting their monthly rations.
District civil supply officer Ramnath Sahu said the matter has come to his notice and he has directed the BDO to tag the beneficiaries with retail counters nearest to their village.
The beneficiaries who have been collecting rations from far away dealers have been asked to submit applications in this regard to their respective marketing inspectors, said Sahu said. PNN
