Over 30 families of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in Jharkhand had to borrow foodgrains from relatives during the festive season as they were bereft of their share enshrined under National Food Security Act.

The villagers belonging to Korwa tribe, one of the eight PVTGs on verge of extinction in Brahmani hamlet in Kushmahi village under Meral block of Garhwa district, nearly 240km from state capital Ranchi have been denied of foodgrains since September and had no option but to borrow grain from relatives in other villages during the festival of Diwali.

“We all have ration cards under Antodaya Anna Yojana (a Central government sponsored scheme) but were given less amount by ration dealer (Ishaq Ansari) and refused to take it in protest. This happened in September and continued in October and so far in November, we are yet to get our ration. I had no option but to get some rations for my family from my parent’s house in a neighbouring village,” said Saraswati Devi Korwa, 26, a resident of Brahmani Tola in Kushmahi village.

Significantly, under the Antodaya Anna Yojana scheme subsidised foods is distributed to the poorest of poor having ‘yellow ration card. In Jharkhand, under the scheme one gets 35 kg of rice, one litre of kerosene oil, one kg of salt and one kg of sugar each month.

“We received a complaint from few villagers that the PDS dealer was cheating people by distributing fewer food grains while on the online portal it was showing as people have received the right amount. When we conducted an inquiry we were told by villagers that the PDS dealer was giving them food grains of only 25 or 27 kg on the plea that there has been less allotment from the government. However, when we checked it on the online portal of the food supply and consumer affairs department it showed that all have received right amount. It was a scam and we asked villagers not to take the food grains and lodge a protest,” said Manikchand Korwa, a resident of the same village who is associated with the Right To Food (RTF) campaign.

The villagers also wrote a complaint to the district administration by submitting an application to the office of Garhwa additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Satyendra Narayan Upadhaya on Wednesday.

“We submitted the application in the office of ADC as under NFSA, ADC is the complaint redressal officer in the district,” said Manikchand Korwa admitting that most of the poor villagers had to borrow foodgrains during the festive season.

Garhwa district supply officer, Vijendra Kumar admitted to the irregularities.

“We have come to know about the irregularities and will arrange for distribution of food grains at the concerned village through camps in a day or two. We will also initiate action against the PDS dealer as per NFSA,” said Vijendra Kumar.

Significantly, the Jharkhand government is conducting a social audit of the food distribution for PTGs.