DATE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2026
★ SPECIAL PRINT EDITION ★
SECTION: INDIA

Subsidized Rice Meant for Laborers Diverted: Food Department Launches Statewide Probe

Subsidized Rice Meant for Laborers Diverted: Food Department Launches Statewide Probe

Sep 01, 2026 - 20:00
Subsidised rice meant for labourers sold to traders: CBI probes Rs 28-crore ‘scam’
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Key Highlights

  • Vigilance enforcement squads intercepted multiple truckloads of subsidized PDS rice being illicitly diverted to private millers.
  • The subsidized grain was allocated under national food security schemes for low-income migrant workers and construction laborers.
  • Authorities cancelled dealership licenses of corrupt fair-price operators and initiated criminal proceedings under the Essential Commodities Act.

In a decisive operation to safeguard the integrity of national welfare programs, the Food and Civil Supplies Department has uncovered a major illicit racket involving the illegal diversion of subsidized foodgrains intended for low-income laborers. Acting on confidential intelligence, special vigilance teams intercepted several heavy trucks carrying thousands of quintals of government-stamped Public Distribution System (PDS) rice destined for unauthorized private wholesale warehouses.

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The subsidized grain had been earmarked under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) to provide free nutritional security to marginalized workers and vulnerable families.

Strict Enforcement Under the Essential Commodities Act

Enforcement officers sealed private processing mills involved in re-packaging government rice into generic commercial branding for resale at premium open-market rates. District collectors cancelled the operating licenses of several complicit fair-price shop dealers and registered formal police FIRs under the Essential Commodities Act and cheating statutes.

District magistrates confirmed that all seized foodgrains have been securely transferred back to central Food Corporation of India (FCI) buffer godowns for immediate re-distribution to genuine beneficiaries.

Digital GPS Tracking and Biometric Point-of-Sale Upgrades

To permanently plug distribution leakages, civil supplies authorities announced the mandatory installation of real-time GPS tracking devices on all grain transport carriers and the deployment of updated iris-scanning biometric verification terminals at fair-price outlets.

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