Bhubaneswar: With over 64,000 applications for ration cards under National Food Security Act pending for months, the OSFC has given an ultimatum to all district administrations for their disposal by June 30, 2018.
It has also ordered necessary action against the BDOs of all the districts where the task is not completed within the stipulated time as these applications are pending before these officials for their consideration.
Commission Chairperson Rangalal Jamuda, in a letter to all district collectors, has said that of the 74,688 applications for ration cards pending as of December 2017, a little over 10,000 applications have been disposed of till this date and the remaining 64,108 applications are still pending. “The applications should have been disposed of by the end of the March this year,” he said, adding, “This exercise should be completed latest by June 30, 2018.”
The Commission said 13 districts, including Bhadrak, Bolangir, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jajpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Nuapada, Nabarangpur and Puri, have not been able to furnish their reports on the status of their pending applications.
A large number of these applications is pending with officials at block level in Ganjam, Keonjhar, Koraput, Nuapada and Puri, sources said.
Jamuda said that the applicants whose applications are rejected should be communicated in writing with reasons for rejection mentioned on it.
He said that the applications considered eligible for ration card under the National Food Security Act should be included in the final priority list (FPL) to receive food grains or else their names need to be enlisted in draft list and subsequently included in the FPL when vacancies in the list occur due to death of some beneficiaries or exclusion of ineligible households from the list.
The Food Commission chairperson also pointed out that while 86.58 lakh households are receiving food grains, around 19.79 lakh households haven’t received their printed ration cards, mostly in Angul, Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Gajapati, Koraput, Malkangiri and Sambalpur.
