Mortgaged ration cards returned to daily wagers in Bengal village amid lockdown: Officials

Purulia (WB), Apr 17 () The West Bengalgovernment's policy to distribute free grains for the next sixmonths, amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown, has opened up acan of worms in Purulia district's Jhalda block, where peoplewere found to have mortgaged ration cards in lieu of money.

District authorities, after getting to know about thematter, took prompt action and returned the cards to theirrightful owners, an official here said.

Daily wagers in Sarjumatur area of Jhalda block-1, hadmortgaged ration cards to moneylenders in exchange of moneyranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 30,000, he said.

This has been a tradition in the area. More than 20families were found to have deposited their cards with thelenders, the official added.

Talking to , Jhalda BDO Rajkumar Biswas said, "Boththe moneylender and the daily wager who mortgaged his card areoffenders. This is illegal, how can someone mortgagegovernment property? As soon as we came to know about theissue, we recovered the cards and returned them to theirrightful owners so that they can collect rations."

The lenders have given us in writing that they wouldnot be committing the same offence again, Biswas said.

According to locals, the poor labourers in the state'smost backward region have no other option but to deposit theirration cards for money mostly for emergencies and sometimesto fund his or her daughter's wedding.

"We had no money for our daughters wedding so we hadto borrow Rs 10,000 from a money lender, who took our (he andhis wife) cards as guarantee. Last week, when officialsvisited our place to enquire about ration supply, we told themabout our condition, and the very next day they got us ourcards," said Gopal Kalindi, a labourer who went joblessfollowing the imposition of lockdown.

Earlier, Kalindi said, he would pay back ininstalments but the lockdown, imposed in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic, has robbed him of his sources of income.

The story is hardly different for several otherfamilies in the village, who on various occasions have takenmoney from lenders in lieu of their cards and entered into anever-ending vicious debt cycle.

Guna Kuyiri, a local moneylender, said the practicewas prevalent in the area for decades.

"Not just me, several others in this locality areinto the money-lending business. The system is that when wegive loans, we keep the ration cards and use it to collectgrains. The food grains are then sold in open market to earninterest for the money we have lent. Once the principal amountis realised, we return the cards," Kuyri said.

The West Bengal government, in an order issued lastmonth, had announced free ration for more than 7.5 crorepeople in Bengal till September. PNTRMS RMS