Wagholra villagers demand cancellation of ration shop licence over irregular grain supply

Residents of Wagholra village in Sindkhed Raja taluka have demanded that the licence of the village ration shopkeeper be cancelled. They allege that the shopkeeper is not distributing grain to beneficiaries regularly or in full. A memorandum on the matter was submitted at the tehsil office on October 23. Ganesh Nagare, revenue assistant at the tehsil office, received it.

According to the villagers' memorandum, the grain that eligible beneficiaries in the village should receive from the government is not being distributed regularly. It also complains that beneficiaries are given less grain than they are entitled to, and that no receipt is issued for the grain handed out. The memorandum further states that the shopkeeper quarrels with those who go to the shop to ask for grain.

The villagers say this is making it difficult for people in the village to benefit from the public distribution system. They have therefore demanded a thorough inquiry into the shopkeeper's functioning. The inquiry, they say, should examine the grain distribution records, the transactions on the e-POS machine and the actual grain stock in the shop.

The memorandum goes on to say that if the allegations are found to be true, action should be taken against the shopkeeper as per the rules and the process of cancelling his licence should begin. It also asks that arrangements be made for Wagholra's eligible beneficiaries to receive regular and full grain through another shopkeeper. The villagers have also requested that they be informed in writing of the action taken on the complaint.

The memorandum carries the names of the sarpanch's husband Haribhau Tryambak Gavhad, former Agricultural Produce Market Committee chairman Manohar Bhaurao Gavhad, gram panchayat members Siddhu Gavhad, Tukaram Bhaurao Gavhad, Vikram Sutar, Shivaji Gavhad, Sandeep Jadhav and Gajanan Hanwate, and Tantamukti committee president Dnyandev Manikrao Gavhad. Other villagers, including Deepak Kharat, Baban Gavhad, Uddhav Gavhad, Nand Patil Gavhad, Maruti Narayan Gavhad, Shyam Gavhad, Bharat Gavhad, Anil Maske, Datta Gavhad, Ramesh Sutar, Prashant Sutar, Santosh Hanwate, Kundlik Sutar, Pradeep Kakade, Kashinath Kahale, Gopal Bilhore, Babasaheb Gavhad, Amol Dukare, Haribhau Ukande, Amol Kakade, Sharad Hanwate, Parmeshwar Dukare and Chandrakant Gavhad, have also signed.

Villagers in Wagholra are now watching to see what action the tehsil administration takes on the memorandum.