SHILLONG: Many residents of Madanrting are not receiving essential items despite having ration cards for the past several years.
The Shillong Times visited a few blocks in Madanrting on Thursday and found that many women were waiting for rice and dal. When asked, the women, most of whom were non-tribals, said the allocated fair price shops denied them ration because “we do not have EPIC from Shillong”.
“Some of our husbands have EPICs from Shillong but even then, we were shooed away. They told us that they need our EPIC and many of the women have EPICs from their home state,” said Renu Devi, whose voter ID card has the address of her home state Bihar.
About 20 beneficiaries from blocks A and C were rejected on Thursday. All of them possess pink ration cards, which allow households without LPG connection to get kerosene, besides other essential items, from fair price shops.
“We do not get anything from the fair price shop. We buy rice and dal from people who get these but do not need them. They get it for Rs 3 a kg of rice and we buy for Rs 22,” said Manorama Begum, a widow who has to take care of four children.
Manorama works as a domestic help but with the lockdown in place, there is no job and no pay either.
It is the same with Kiran Devi whose husband is a driver “but he is sitting at home now”. There are many like them staying in different blocks of Madanrting who are going without the stipulated ration.
The curious part is that all of them have ration cards registered under the local administration despite having EPICs from different states. All these cards have the seal of the deputy commissioner’s office and yet the respective dealers are denying them benefits for years now.
“I don’t know about the past but now with the lockdown in place, we have been directed by the headman to provide essentials to all even if their EPICs are not from here,” said Adribon Kharkongor, one of the fair price shop owners who allegedly denied benefits to the women.
“I have distributed to all those who came today. I do not know about anyone who was denied ration. The next distribution is on Mondayand those who did not get can come to me and I will help them,” she said and added that she has already got the sacks of rice which were meant to be distributed during the next relaxation period.
Valvifera Dhar, whose fair price shop “denied food items”, explained why the confusion over food distribution exists. “One lady had come to us whose EPIC is from Assam. How can we give food items like that? We have instructions to check EPICs. And yet we helped her because of the ongoing situation,” she told The Shillong Times on phone.
Elizabeth Tigga, Sheela Devi and Purmila Sarma of Block A and Chingzamawi of Block C could not understand why they would not get ration. “We are out of our wits how to get food items. Our families are on the verge of starving,” said Sheela as she flipped open the ration card, showed her name on it and the blank pages in desperation.
Dhar agreed that EPIC should not be a problem in this hour of crisis and “those who did not get ration today will get tomorrow or day after, for sure”.
When pointed out that only wholesalers are allowed to open on April 24 and 25, Dhar insisted that the leftouts “will get either tomorrow or day after”.
Dhar said the allotment of essential items is as per the number of card holders in each block and there is no extra consignment. But many of the rejected beneficiaries have the name of the dealer on their cards and yet they were sent away.
A senior government official said the national food security depends on the socio-economic caste census and has nothing to do with EPIC or the address on it.
Many beneficiaries whom The Shillong Times spoke to were non-tribals who alleged discrimination against them. But Dhar rejected the allegations saying most of the settlers in the locality are non-tribals and “there is no question of discriminating against them, especially at this time”.
The poor families have also not received the Rs 700 benefit from the state government. “That we are not getting ration for years now is a problem. But how do people manage now? Also, there is no charcoal in the local market and the fire wood in the forest is wet due to rain. Even if we manage rice, how do we cook? Kerosene is unavailable and many of us have to use household things to light a fire for cooking,” said Amita Sangma, a resident of Block G where “there is no fair price shop”.
Despite assurances from the government, the ground reality remains pitiful and the poor were harassed in the name of rules and regulations.
The Seng Samla that was distributing rice agreed to give 5 kg of rice to each of the hapless family after The Shillong Times intervened. “But we too have supply as per the number of residents in a block. The aggrieved parties should meet the Rangbah Shnong,” said a member of the Seng Samla.
