According to sources, the decision to this effect was taken after it was brought into the notice of the department that many ration card holders did not get their ration cards cancelled while changing their residence. They, instead, got duplicate ration cards issued.

There are a total of about two lakh ration cards in the city, of which about 1,100 fall below the poverty line. Only those persons having a total annual family income of less than Rs 16,000 in rural areas and Rs 21,000 in urban areas fall under the category of "Below Poverty Line".

With the reduction in PDS quota for kerosene for the Union Territory from 1,700 KL to about 1,200 KL, the department is now taking steps to ensure that only those falling below the poverty line or those not having regular LPG connections should get the kerosene quota, say sources. This was decided after it was brought to the department's notice that kerosene oil was misused for commercial purposes. Earlier, to avoid such misuse, kerosene oil sold through Public Distribution System distribution was coloured blue.

Meanwhile, officials add that those LPG consumers who have only one cylinder can avail 5 litres of Public Distribution System kerosene oil, even though a PDS consumer can avail a maximum of only 25 litres of kerosene oil per month from the PDS quotas. However, only 650 of such ration card holders have got themselves registered with the department.