A day after Dhanbad DC Kripanand Jha asked district supply office to rectify anomalies in ration cards distributed so far, some 300 owners of public distribution shops held a meeting on Monday.

The dealers, who came under the banner Fair Price Dealers' Association, demanded a fair inquiry into charges of errors in the allotment of ration cards and pointed a finger at "NGOs responsible for feeding data" related to socio-economic and caste census of 2011 based on which ration cards were issued.

Dealers expressed anger over the "lackadaisical attitude of central and state governments" towards PDS shop owners and alleged they found it tough to eke out a living due to the existing system of commission. They demanded honorarium from the government instead of commissions on the basis of foodgrain and kerosene distributed from shops. Like the Kerala model, the shop owners demanded salary from the state government.

Each dealer gets Rs 45 as commission on the sale of a quintal of foodgrain and 10 paise for one litre kerosene sold.

Ramesh Singh, a shop owner, also the district president of Fair Price Dealers' Association, pointed out their hidden costs. "We incur transport cost of Rs 350 per drum of 200 litre kerosene. The overall loss is around Rs 330 on the sale of each drum," he said.

A state-level meeting of over 2,000 dealers would be held in Hazaribagh on January 7 during which they would chalk out a strategy. A statewide strike may also be announced.

Contacted, district supply officer Sadat Anwar rejected allegations that NGOs were involved in the irregularities in ration card allotment. He claimed steps would be taken within a week to iron out existing the problems.

In all, Dhanbad has 1,576 PDS dealers, including 176 shops in Baghmara, 86 in Baliapur, 40 in Dhanbad, 114 in Govindpur, 251 in Nirsa, 36 in Purbi Tundi, 126 in Topchanchi, 85 in Tundi, 30 in Chirkunda and 632 across the 55 civic wards in the city.