After the state government announced a Government Resolution (GR) on June 29 about new norms to acquire ration cards, the district food supply officer, Dnyaneshwar Jawanjal said that these rules are curbing cases of menace caused byagents. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/aug/ration-cards.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 381px;" /> Next in line: Not willing to follow procedure, a large number of people in Pune district depend upon agents to get official work done, increasing corruption in the issuance of ration cards. The new government resolution aims to keep the procedure clean and remove the agent nexus. Representation Pic According to the new GR, which has been applicable across the state since July 1, supply inspectors are personally visiting the applicant to check whether they reside at their said address. He added that after the supply inspector&rsquo;s visit it would be compulsory for the applicant to come to the zone office for further procedures, thus removing the agent nexus. &ldquo;Not willing to follow procedure, a large number of people depend upon agents to get official work done, increasing corruption,&rdquo; said Jawanjal. He added that recently there were cases of agents creating bogus ration card in the name of celebrities. According to the state government&rsquo;s observation a large number of orange ration cards (issued to people who are above the poverty line) were distributed from October 2012 to March 2013. Later, however it was found there was a difference between the number of ration cards distributed and the number of applications received. &ldquo;Agents are responsible for these bogus ration cards. They create fake cards with the name of celebrities or politicians and give it to the applicants to use. However, when the name on the ration card and the name of the applicant don&rsquo;t match users are trapped. However, with the new norms in place, the applications would be accepted only with photographs,&rdquo; he said. Earlier, ration cards were received in seven days from application; however, now applicants will have to wait for a month to get the cards. The FDO has said that if applicants do not get their cards in the given time they should directly contact him but not go to agents to get the work done. Ration cards meant for the rich too There is a misconception among people that ration cards are only for poor people. The fact is it is meant for all citizens across the country. The yellow ration card is meant for people below poverty line, the orange ration card is for people above poverty line and the white ration card is for people in the high-income group. It is an important tool of identification while getting the domicile certificate, voters&rsquo; ID card and passport. Till last month 9.16 lakh ration cards have been distributed in the city since the issuing of ration cards was started in the country.

The GR was passed after it was found that agents were using their influence to get fake cards made in the name of actors and politicians, which were later misused

New guidelines to rein in agents from making bogus ration cards

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New guidelines to rein in agents from making bogus ration cards

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