PDS plaints: Karnataka HC raps govt over allotment of fair price shops

BENGALURU: Anguished over deluge of cases pertaining to public distribution system, especially allotment of fair price shops or cards to a particular fair price shop, the Karnataka High Court directed the Commissioner of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs to look into the issue and resolve it.

Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order while partly allowing the petition filed by B Manjunath, a specially-abled person from Doddabidarakallu, questioning the cancellation of fair price allotted to him by the Appellate Authority on a appeal filed by Rajajinagar Sastha’s Women Association.

“Indiscriminate allotment of fair price shops or discriminate distribution of cards has led to this problem. The authorities while allotting the cards should seek to maintain the terms in clause 11 of the order which directs that there should be 800 cards to a fair-price shop in the urban area and 500 in the rural area,” the court observed.  

Referring to a communication from the Commissioner to Deputy Directors to exercise caution and allot fair price shops only after verification of documents, the court said this remains only on paper. After every allotment, there will be a complaint, and those come before the court through writ petitions, the court said.

The government advocate said that the policy is ‘one nation, one ration card’, and card holders can pick up their ration from any fair price depot, to which the court said that the state, to take the policy forward, is taking away ration cards from one and giving it to another, at the whim and fancy of the officers of Deputy Director or other officers-in-charge of such distribution. The court remitted back the appeal to the Appellate Authority.