Under the Public Distribution System, the Parkash Singh Badal government issues 5 kg of foodgrain per person per month.
Severe anomalies are present in the Public Distribution System at a village in Punjab's Sangrur district, NDTV has found. The Aam Aadmi Party has been demanding an investigation into what it has dubbed the foodgrain scam.
In Sangrur's Bir Kalan village, the family of Chamkur Singh has been surviving on half-burnt wheat. Their share of wheat under Public Distribution Scheme is not reaching them.
The muster roll of 1,076 residents of the village is available online. NDTV found there were at least 75 fictitious beneficiaries in the list. Besides, 16 people on the list are dead. One of them, Bhola Singh, died six years ago, a neighbor said.
Mr Singh, a daily wage labourer, has been holding a Public Distribution System card for the last six years. He is the only earning member of the family.
"We eat what we have, there is no choice," said his sister Rano Kaur. "The depot holder says there is no wheat for us against our ration card. No one listens to our complaint."
Under the Public Distribution System, the Parkash Singh Badal government issues 5 kg of foodgrain per person per month. Every year, the state government spends about Rs 400 crore on foodgrain subsidy -- which is expected to benefit 28 lakh families.
"Embezzlement on such a scale cannot happen without the connivance of the government," said Aam Admi Party leader Aman Arora.
Calling it "institutionalised corruption", Mr Arora said the first link in the chain is the holders of the depot from where the grain is distributed, who are "mostly aligned with Akali Dal".
AAP has demanded that a police case be filed and the matter be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Food and Civil Supplies Department is headed by Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, the son-in-law of the Chief Minister Badal.
Regarding the allegations of corruption, the minister said the department is "in the process of linking Adhaar details of beneficiaries with their ration cards to check leakage, if any".