In a severe lapse by the Supply Department in Chakai block of Jamui district, approximately 5000 poor individuals have had their names arbitrarily removed from ration cards without proper survey. This includes people from Dalit, Mahadalit, poor farmer, and laborer communities. While names were supposed to be removed for those with long-pending KYC or those residing outside the area, supply office staff have arbitrarily deprived hundreds of eligible and poor laborers of their rations.

Most alarmingly, this negligence has affected children and laborers aged 12 to 14 who are alive and living in their villages. After their names were removed, these impoverished individuals are now forced to repeatedly visit government offices to get their names re-added.

Exploiting this systemic disarray, dozens of middlemen have become active in Chakai. According to sources, illegal extortion ranging from Rs 1700 to Rs 3000 per person is being demanded to re-include names in ration cards. Khago Das and Basudev Das, residents of Marhi, stated that middlemen are demanding Rs 1700 to add names. Similarly, Shubha Devi and Girdhari Turi from Karhi reported having paid Rs 3000.

While the District Magistrate talks about issuing new ration cards daily, thousands of poor people are on the verge of starvation due to the arbitrary actions of departmental staff. Furthermore, hundreds of people in the block received their ration cards six to eight months ago but have yet to receive any grains. When victims approach dealers, they are told their names don't appear in the POS machine. Complaints to supply officials are met with a rehearsed response: 'the list has been sent to Hyderabad, the server will be fixed from there,' with officials shrugging off responsibility.

Block Supply Officer, Mukesh Kumar, acknowledged that over 5000 names have been removed and stated that higher authorities would be able to explain the reason. He appealed to the affected individuals not to fall prey to middlemen and to submit their applications directly to the Block Supply Office, where ration cards are being issued free of charge.