SANGHAR, Jan 24: The district council in its session here on Thursday rejected the proposed ration card scheme, arguing that “it would open the gates of corruption”.

The members of the council said that only the influential and the haves would be able to get the cards leaving the poor high and dry.

They accused the staff at the Utility Stores Corporation of black-marketing the subsidised items meant for the poor and low-income section of society. The stores had turned into a hub of corruption, they charged.

They said that the stores were black-marketing 75 per cent items and subjecting consumers to humiliation if they dared object to something wrong.

They complained that the stores did not follow the scheduled timing and often open late in the day. Most of the commodities were sold during night and shifted to godowns, they said.

Ismail Dars, Mohammad Sharif Qureshi, Faqir Noor Hussain, Umer Khan Khattak, Ms Tahira Khatoon, Ms Abida Begum and Samina Mehmood among many others alleged that the stores staff had made it mandatory for the consumers to buy some other items also if they wanted to purchase flour and sugar.

The members expressed concern over the growing business of Aakra Parchi and demanded curbs on the gambling trade, which they said was emptying innocent people’s pockets of hundreds of thousands of rupees daily.

Many people had lost their lifelong savings and even homes due to their indulgence in Aakra Parchi trade, which was going on unhindered with the blessings of police.

The In-charge of Utility Stores Sarwar Rahmani defended the corporation and dismissed all the allegations levelled against it by consumers and council members.

Detained: A landlord confined two members of an anti-polio team in a room for about four hours for coming to the Sher Khan Hingoro village without his permission here on Thursday.

Sher Khan Hingoro objected to the team members Muqeem Chand Meghwar and Madhu Rind’s entering the village.He said to them how did they dare come to his village without permission and then ordered his men to lock them up in a room.

After about four hours, people of the area managed to get them released from the room.