The Communist Party of India, CPI Manipur State Council, has alleged that the state government has robbed the rights of many people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in failing to link Aadhaar cards with their ration cards.
In order for one to become a beneficiary of rice distributed under NFSA, the Supreme Court has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar cards with ration cards.
Although the apex court has passed such an order, the state government officials have not taken up proper initiatives for linking of the Aadhaar cards with the ration cards, said state secretary of CPI, Manipur State Council L Sotinkumar while speaking to the media at its office on Sunday in Imphal.
He alleged that the officials have conducted many programmes for linking Aadhaar cards with the ration cards only on paper works.
Such irresponsible acts of the government officials, reduction of NFSA rice allocation from 13,500 to 10,000 metric tonnes per month and reduction of the state budget of NFSA shows that the state government does not care about the rights and life of the poor, he added.
Asserting that some individuals with political links are swindling the masses with subsidized rice, he said that NFSA rice has now turned into a blessing for some black marketers who are selling them per bag of 50 kilogram at Rs 1,150.
“On behalf of all the common people, I urge the government to take up an effective programme to link Aadhaar cards with ration cards at a local level, so that none of the poor are left out in getting the rights given by NFSA,” he added.
