Operation VACB Uncovers Widespread Illegal Misuse of Food Grains from NFSA, Food Stores in Kerala

“Operation Food Security” targeted 14 NFSA godowns and 54 food shops across Kerala. Vigilante sleuths have uncovered widespread misuse of subsidized food grains and other staple foods for black market purposes. | Photo credit: special arrangement

In a nationwide sting operation, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in Kerala has unearthed widespread illegal misuse of subsidized food grains meant for an estimated 95.7 million ration card holders from various economic and social backgrounds.

In a covert operation dubbed Operation Food Security, anti-corruption detectives created staged scenarios posing as black market traders trying to buy subsidized food grains from randomly selected warehouses and ration shops at prices well below market rates to create a case of entrapment to expose deep-rooted corruption in public finances that hit hard.

(The state government spends an estimated ₹2,400 crore annually on food security and price control of essential commodities, including ₹100 crore on ration distribution, dealer commissions and door-to-door delivery charges for elderly and differently-abled citizens.)

A senior investigator told The Hindu that field intelligence and preliminary surveys by various government agencies showed that an estimated 30% of government-subsidized food grains and food staples did not reach the intended beneficiaries and were siphoned off by a mafia comprising ration shop licensees, warehouse managers, transport contractors and misguided civil supplies department officials due to black market transactions, leading to hundreds of unbelievable losses in public market.

Investigators said they found that officials diverted a substantial amount of subsidized food grains to poultry farmers and the hotel industry after accepting substantial backhanders. In Thiruvananthapuram, the VACB found digital evidence of a ration trader receiving regular payments of lakhs of rupees annually from a poultry farm owner.

They contacted dozens of cardholders linked to the ration shop and found that the licensee tampered with the biometric authentication system embedded in the electronic point of sale (E-POS) equipment and misused the one-time passwords (OTPs) received by beneficiaries on their Aadhaar-linked mobile phone numbers to subvert the system and legitimize black marketing activities. Officials said the pattern is common at grocery stores in the state.

The VACB also found transporters using trucks without mandatory tracking devices to transport subsidized food grains from government warehouses to ration shops and Supplyco warehouses, opening the door to illegal misuse of the staple food in a major subversion of the Ministry of Civil Supplies’ vehicle and fleet tracking system.

The VACB said government officials aided the racket by turning a blind eye to fraudulent accounting and glaring irregularities in share registers. Investigators said transactions in ration shops were mostly on paper and a preliminary verification of physical stocks revealed an excess of food grains and food staples, including sugar, over the amount recorded in the stock register.

VACB Managing Director, Manoj Abraham oversaw the sting operation.

Published – 17 Jun 2026 11:05 AM IST