The attempt of the Civil Supplies Department to track illegal beneficiaries included in the ration priority list through confidential reporting has evoked positive response in Kozhikode.
Within a week of announcing a special e-mail address and telephone numbers for the purpose, hundreds of secret informers have come out in support of the idea and shared details of suspected beneficiaries in their regions with supply office squads.
An officer in-charge of a helpline at the Collectorate said he received more than 100 calls from various individuals last week with details of illegal card holders. It was in addition to calls received by other helplines.
Two rationing offices in city limits, and the taluk supply offices at Koyilandy, Kozhikode, Vadakara and Thamarassery had made arrangements for the confidential reporting. It was introduced after 20,000 illegal beneficiaries were identified through internal checks.
Officials said the confidential information exchange system was introduced as per the recommendation of the district-level Food Advisory Committee chaired by District Collector U.V. Jose. The committee had found that there continued to be a large number of illegal beneficiaries even after several rounds of screening and penalising action.
Phone complaints
“Most of the recent complaints were received on phone though we had introduced an email address as well to report cases. The complaints will be taken up very seriously for further checking,” said District Supply Officer K. Manoj Kumar. He said the number of those who voluntarily communicated the details of their illegal entry to the list was minimal.
Priority list
As per official records, Kozhikode district now has seven lakh ration card holders, of which 2.3 lakh are included in the priority list. With the elimination of ineligible candidates, 39,000 more eligible applicants will be included in the list. Besides the secret information system, the special squads of the District Supply Office will carry out surprise inspections and track illegal beneficiaries.
