Cashing in on the Pongal rush, many ration shops in the city and peripheries have been reportedly indulging in selling essential commodities like sugar below the correct weight to cardholders.
The 1,300 and odd ration shops in the district, including part-time shops and those run by self-help groups, have been distributing essential commodities along with Pongal gift hampers issued by the government to card holders for the last one week.
When The Hindu team visited a few ration shops, salesmen admitted that they received sugar bags each weighing only 43 kg against the correct weight of 50 kg. When asked about the “missing” seven kg of sugar in each bag, they had no answer.
But they privately admitted that they received the sugar bags from the common pool of the State-run warehouses and were directed to sell them without raising such queries.
As the news of underweight distribution of sugar spread, the ration card holders sent complaints about the “irregularities” to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLA P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan through the complaint boxes he has installed in his constituency.
“The MLA visited a couple of ration shops and inquired with the salesmen,” the people said.
He assured the consumers that he would take up the issue with higher officials.
When contacted, an official at District Supply Office said they would look into the complaints as they had designated squads to check such issues.
Out of the 9,47,177 valid family cards in the district, 84,610 were eligible to get sugar, 7,98,267 rice and other commodities. Under Central government schemes, 54,323 beneficiaries in the district were eligible to receive essential commodities from the ration shops, he added.
He also said 77 per cent of the Pongal gift hampers had been distributed.
