Rice stock position for the public distribution system in the State is comfortable. The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) has stocked 6.5 lakh tonnes of paddy and 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice. In addition, the State is getting 2.96 tonnes of rice from the Central pool both under above the poverty line and below the poverty line quota. As the monthly off-take of rice from PDS shops ranges between 2.8 lakh and 2.85 lakh tonnes, the State will not have any problem in ensuring normal quota to cardholders. Even if the off-take increases in case of an increase in price in the open market, the State will tide over the situation, according to a Food Department official here. The official said to streamline the PDS, the department was upgrading the data system from the taluk level. So far addition and deletion of cards were being manually and had not reflected in the existing data base. Once the data base was upgraded, verification would be easy. The official said the department was also taking stringent measures to curb diversion of the PDS rice. Its availability at Rs 2 a kg was the main reason for smuggling. It was a lucrative business as a smuggler would get at least Rs.6 a kg. The Food Cell police had identified the smuggling ring leaders. As they were all operating through their network without direct involvement, it was difficult to arrest them. The police were keeping a close watch. As bogus cards also contribute to diversion of ration rice, the department had launched a drive to detect them. Describing it as a challenging task, the official said in the last one year, the department had detected one lakh bogus cards. They had accumulated over the years. It was mainly due to issue of cards without proper verification. Now intense verification was being done. On issuing new cards, the official said, it was being given as quickly as possible provided the applicants were genuine. In many cases, members of a joint family living in the same house applied for separate cards. It would be difficult to issue them separate cards. The official denied the charge that cardholders in some shops were not getting their normal quota of 20 kg a month. The allotment was based on the off-take. On an average, the off-take from a shop was only 60 per cent of the total requirement. If there was an increase, the allotment would be increased. The department was also maintaining a watch on shops where the off-take was more than 75 per cent of the total requirement to find out whether it was real or bogus. It is believed that the diversion is mainly from shops where the off-take is more than 75 per cent of the actual requirement.