Fair price shop dealer in Jaisalmer booked for cheating

TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 06:11 IST

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JAISALMER: Misusing the provision of giving ration items without biometric verification during the lockdown, a fair price shop dealer in Jaisalmer district has misappropriated 325kg wheat by making false entries in the name of 12 consumers of Sura and Methada villages of Barmer district.
Taking serious note of the complaint, Jaisalmer district collector Namit Mehta has been apprised to take action. After this, the authority letter of the accused fair price shopkeeper was suspended and a case has been lodged against him.
Barmer district collector Vishram Meena said the state government had made the provision to distribute ration without biometric verification to the eligible families under the National Food Security Scheme during the lockdown. Taking undue advantage of this, ration dealer Bhagwan Singh of Tejrava in Fatehgarh tehsil of Jaisalmer district lifted wheat for 12 consumers of Sura and Methada villages in Barmer district through POS machine.
He said DSO Ashwini Gurjar got the complaint from local ration dealers about this, on which he informed the Jaisalmer district collector. While investigating the incident, enforcement inspector Sawai Ram found that Bhagwan Singh made a transaction for 325kg wheat, but did not make it available to the consumers. Bhagwan Singh has said that the transaction was done by his son.
During further probe, 13,232 kg wheat, 848kg sugar and 211.90 litre kerosene were also found less in the stock at the ration shop. The stocks and price were not displayed at the shop as per the conditions of authority letter. Also, the stock registers were not maintained.
District collector Meena said that as per the report of the enforcement inspector, the dealer did not distribute the concerned items to the consumers and has forged entries in the register, which comes in category of embezzlement. Bhagwan Singh has clearly violated condition number 11, 14, 15, 17 and 18 of the authority letter issued under Rajasthan Food Grains and Other Essential Commodities (Regulation of Distribution) Act, 1976.
Collector Meena said that Jaisalmer DSO has suspended the authority letter of the ration dealer Bhagwan Singh. Enforcement inspector has lodged an FIR against the dealer at Jhinjhinyali police station. Police will investigate the case further. DSO Gurjar has directed all the ration shopkeepers in Barmer district that if any fair price shopkeeper tries to embezzle ration item or deprive eligible consumers, then strict action will follow.