The Economic Offences Wing (EOW)of Chhattisgarh police has registered a case in an alleged multi-crore Public Distribution System (PDS) scam which took place during the previous BJP government's tenure, and launched a probe into the role of concerned officials.The case was registered on Tuesday after probe revealed the irregularities committed by the officials who were employed with the Food Department caused a loss of Rs 2,718 crore to the exchequer, an EOW official here said.As per the 2011 socio-economic census, there were 56,50,724 families in the state and there should have been 45 lakh ration cards, he said.But by the end of 2013, a total of 71,30,393 ration cards existed across 27 districts of Chhattisgarh, indicating that there were 14.80 lakh bogus ration cards as the number of families in the state was only 56.5 lakh, the official said.From July 2013 to December 2013, as many as 41,847 ration cards were invalidated. But till 2016, new ration cards were issued every year and some of them were canceled after it came to light that they were bogus, the EOW official said.Between April 2013 and December 2016, 11,08,515 tons of rice was distributed at subsidized rate against these bogus ration cards which were eventually canceled, causing a loss of Rs 2,718 crore to the state government, he said.The responsibility of transportation and distribution of foodgrains lay with the Directorate of Food Department and the transportation agency, he said.The officials who were then posted with the Food Department misused their powers to facilitate issuance of bogus cards and distribution of foodgrains through them, the EOW official said.The EOW is now probing this scam and the role of civil servants, he added.
