Ernakulam’s civil supplies department has fined 1,358 below poverty line (BPL) ration cardholders over the past six months after finding them ineligible for the benefits, according to officials cited by the Times of India. Their priority ration cards have been converted to the above poverty line (APL) category.
The action covers households that continued using BPL ration benefits after no longer meeting the eligibility conditions. Civil supplies officials said cardholders were found ineligible under four main categories: owning a house larger than 1,000 square feet, having a family member in a government job, filing income tax returns or purchasing a four-wheeler vehicle.
The department calculates the penalty for the period during which an ineligible household continued buying subsidised commodities through the ration system. An official said the fine is charged at Rs 40 per kg. For a family of four receiving 20kg of rice under a BPL card, this amounts to about Rs 800 per month, with the total penalty depending on how long the benefits were used after the household became ineligible.
Most of the cardholders identified in Ernakulam were found to own houses exceeding 1,000 square feet, the official said. The department’s action therefore links the continued use of a priority ration card to changes in a household’s assets, employment status, tax filing and vehicle ownership.
The department has also provided an exemption from the fine for cardholders who voluntarily surrender their BPL ration cards. According to the official, 290 BPL cardholders surrendered their cards in September and October. The report does not specify the total amount recovered through the fines or the number of households whose cards were converted under each eligibility category.
Ernakulam recorded the second-highest number of fines in Kerala among ration cardholders found ineligible since the new government came to power, according to the report. Malappuram recorded the highest number. The enforcement action highlights the role of the civil supplies department in reviewing whether households holding priority cards continue to meet the conditions for subsidised foodgrain access.
The department’s stated process is to convert cards found ineligible to the APL category and calculate penalties based on the period of continued use. Cardholders who surrender their cards voluntarily are exempted from that fine, according to the civil supplies official cited in the report.
