Surat: The racket of pilfering of foodgrains meant for poor using stolen biometric data of ration card holders and inclusion of bogus names as beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) continues, thanks to slow progress in the investigation of the scam exposed a couple of months in the city. The irregularities are being carried out with the help of a software available at a much cheaper price in the market compared to the earlier one, alleged Ajay Jangid, an RTI activist, who was the first to alert police and district authorities about the scam in 2017.
“I recently came to know that earlier the scamsters were charging Rs15,000 for stolen biometric data per month, bypassing the government’s online authorization website. Now some scamsters are offering it for Rs25,000 for a year,” Jangid said.
“Surprisingly, the software services are also available through mobiles. How can pilfering of foodgrains continue when police investigation in the scam is continuing? The scamsters are fearless since police are yet to nab the key accused, including a few government officers for their role in the scam,” Jangid said.
Officials from district civil supply department lodged eight complaints at different police station of the city in January 2018 after the scam was exposed. The investigation was later handed over to crime branch and so far 17 accused, including fair price shop owners and employees of an agency hired for data entry by government, have been arrested. There had been a drop of Rs1 crore in sale at fair price shops in January and Rs5 crore in February in Surat district after the police action.
“I have alerted senior police officials about this. I have told them that pilfering of foodgrains is still continuing through a new software and that too from mobile phones. Hopefully police action will end this menace,” he said.