Upwardly mobile Delhi does not need ration cards

Amitabh Shukla

New Delhi, June 15

People in Delhi do not want ration cards, one of the essentials in the license quota regime earlier. The latest figures available with the Food and Civil Supplies Department indicates that there has been a 35 percent fall in the number of ration card holders in the Capital.

Interestingly, those areas considered affluent have shown a large-scale reduction in ration cards. For instance, in the New Delhi zone, there were 1.76 lakh ration cards earlier. However, when the government asked for applications for renewal of cards, it received only 67 thousand applications. A whopping over a lakh people (61 percent) did not need the ration cards at all.

In the south-west zone more than 50 percent who earlier possessed ration cards did not want it. Similarly, the figure was 44 percent in south zone, another affluent area in the Capital. Even in the less affluent north-east zone, the decline in the number of card holders was 24 percent.

For the officials, the figures are revealing. "People are getting more affluent and they do not need ration from the administered price," said an official as explanation. He admitted that with the easy availability of quality foodgrains from the neighbourhood merchant, the middle class was not using their ration cards. "In any case, the quality of foodgrains from the fair price shops is considered to be suspect," he said.

The official explained that bogus ration cards too were prevalent in large numbers earlier. "As the process of scrutiny is more stringent, none of the bogus ration card holders have applied now," he said.

As the department was assessing the reasons for the fall in the number of ration cards, the issue came up for close scrutiny in the Delhi Cabinet meeting earlier this week. "Earlier, people wanted a ration card for proof of residence. But now, voter I Card, driving license, utility bills etc. are considered good enough proofs for this," said an official giving another reason for the rapid decline of ration card holders in the city. (2005)