Alleging irregularities in the functioning of public distribution outlets and involvement of middlemen in obtaining new family cards, members of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) tried to stage protest in the office of West Tahsildar here on Monday.
Led by its urban district president B. Satheesh Kumar and district secretary N. Praveen Kumar, about 30 members, alleged that only by paying Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 to the middlemen, new family cards can be obtained.
They said also alleged that without paying the money, no application is processed by the Revenue Department officials.
They cited irregularities in the functioning of the ration shops and that the provisions were not supplied regularly to the card holders, but sold only in black markets. “Instead of supplying 20 kg rice to the card holders, only 10 kg is supplied. But the actual weight of rice comes only to 8.5 kg”, they said.
Members said that due to the influence of ruling party men and councillors, the allotted provisions are not supplied properly to the card holders. "About 50 per cent of the total allocation to each shops are not distributed to the card holders”, they said.
Though DYFI had sought permission to conduct the protest, the city police on Sunday night refused permission and posted police personnel at the Tahsildar office. The police pacified the DYFI members and later talks were held with Tahsildar Rajendran.
