Today was the last day for submission of forms for Ration Cards. A lady at Eklavya Nagar, Ambamata is being accused of charging Rs10 to 20 for Re. 1 forms which enraged a lot of the local residents.

Meena Bhandari is a government employee at Ambamata Aanganwadi and has been accused by a lot of local residents that she’s allegedly asking for 10 to 20 rupees for a Re. 1 ration card form.

According to Gangaram Gameti, a local resident, Bhandari is asking everyone to pay 10 rupees each for the ration card forms. Shivnarayan Singh, who lives near the Aanganwadi, said that he has not seen anyone ask for money for the forms.

A different story came up when we went to Bhandari herself, “I asked a poor local girl Neha Verma who is filling forms for other people who don’t know to read and write”. Verma, on the other hand, denied any accusations of asking for money and instead said that people were giving her money on their own accord for filling up their forms.

Kumari Bai, another resident of Ambamata, “I had to pay Rs. 20 even though I filled out my form myself”.

It is unfortunate that corruption first crops up at places directly associated with citizens.

We need to bring about a radical change in the way we work, a change to instill the notion that letting the wrongdoing take place is just as worse a crime as doing it yourself. When corruption is talked about, it first ends with me. It ends with you.