*CAPD doesn’t have record of 80 lakh liter oil
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 12: A multi-crore kerosene oil distribution scam involving large number of officials of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department and private depot owners has surfaced in Udhampur district. The enormity of the scam can be gauged from the fact that the department doesn’t have the record of 80 lakh liter of kerosene oil, which was allocated to the private depots during the past three years.
All the officials and officers of the CAPD Department, who were involved in this major scam, would face stern action as the Minister Incharge of CAPD Department, Ch Zulfkar Ali has constituted a committee to identify the officers, who were responsible for fair distribution of kerosene oil during the past three years and maintenance of proper record.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that kerosene oil is distributed to the consumers either through the Cooperative Societies registered under J&K Cooperative Societies Act or through centers of the CAPD Department. While Coopera-tives Societies, as per the provision of SRO-326, are not required to obtain license, the private depots are issued license by the CAPD Department for distribution of kerosene oil.
On getting numerous complaints about unfair distribution of kerosene oil in the district, District Development Commi-ssioner, Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary vide Order No.750-60/relief dated July 28, 2015 constituted a committee of officers to enquire into the prevalent system of kerosene oil in the district and recommend measures for improvement of distribution system along with fairness and transparency.
During the detailed exercise conducted by the committee, it came to fore that Cooperative Societies and CAPD Department distributed 1.03 crore liters of oil during the last three years. Out of total kerosene oil distributed, 23.34 lakh liters was distributed by Cooperative Department and 80.58 lakh litre by the CAPD Department.
It also came to the fore that maximum percentage of distribution of quota pertains to CAPD Department which transpires that the societies have been allotted meager share in each financial year. “The department allocated 78% of quota to the CAPD centres and only 22% to the Cooperative Societies”, sources said quoting the findings of the committee, adding “while proper entries on the ration cards were found in respect of kerosene oil distribution through Cooperative Societies, the situation was totally different in respect of CAPD sale centres as no record was found available”.
“Non-availability of centre wise record clearly established that distribution was made without observing any codal procedure and totally in violation of the laid down norms”, sources said while pointing out that no physical verification of such centres was ever conducted by the CAPD Department, which points towards well-knit nexus.
The committee has also revealed that only 22% of the allotment has been made in favour of 50276 families whereas 78% of the quota has been allotted and distributed through CAPD sale centres comprising of 39,000 families only. “There is no prescribed system for effective monitoring of these societies/centers as some societies are receiving quota on regular basis whereas some have not received the quota for the last one year”, sources said quoting the findings of the committee.
“More surprising is that some societies have even received the quota without authorization and all this clearly indicates that no parameters are followed while allocation of quota”, sources said.
Taking serious note of startling revelations vis-à-vis distribution of kerosene oil, the Minister for CAPD, Ch Zulfkar Ali has constituted a committee headed by Joint Director, CAPD for identification of all those officers and officials, who were associated with the distribution of kerosene oil in Udhampur district during last three years so that necessary action is initiated against them.
Moreover, the Minister has asked the CAPD Director to forward the recommendations of the District Development Commissioner, Udhampur to all the DDCs across the State so that they too initiate necessary measures for plugging the pilferage of not only kerosene oil but ration also. “The Minister has considered report in respect of Udhampur district as tip of an iceberg as what would be the enormity of kerosene oil pilferage across the State can be easily gauged”, sources said.
The recommendations include offloading of kerosene oil in the presence of committee comprising of locals as well as Government officials of the area; distribution of essentials to public through Cooperative Societies and Fair Price Shops on coupon system; operation of distribution centre should be restricted to area of operation only; tanker service on road side on fortnightly or weekly basis on predefined date/time/venue should be ensured and the distribution of quota should be made in a rational way on the basis of catering families linked with particular society/sale centre.
As far as monitoring is concerned, it has been recommended that dispatch of tankers should only be on the authorization of Deputy Commissioner and tankers should be GPS enabled with measuring rod and enroute surveillance system should be in place. Regular monitoring of Cooperative Societies as well as sale centres of CAPD to ensure better transparency and timely detection of short comings and random checking of kerosene oil centres on monthly basis to avoid malpractices and submission of reports to the Deputy Commissioners are the other recommendations.
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