Burdwan, Jan. 24: More than three lakh ration cards have been cancelled over the past fortnight by the district administration, which had been put on its toes by the Election Commission.

District controller of food and civil supplies Nalini Kanta Bera said 1.5 lakh more ration cards will be cancelled.

“We served showcause notices on 68 ration dealers in Burdwan district today and sought their explanation within a week,” Bera added.

Working on the poll panel directive to weed out bogus voters, the administration had embarked upon the exercise to trace bogus ration cards.

The cards cancelled so far include fake ones and those belonging to people who have died or have shifted elsewhere.

A district official said it is suspected that the fake ration card rackets were working in connivance with the dealers.

About 1.3 lakh bogus ration cards were detected in the district town alone and over 50,000 in Asansol.

According to the 2001 census, Burdwan has a population of around 70 lakh. “There might be about six lakh bogus ration cards,” the official said.

The ration dealers said the government was trying to hunt for scapegoats. “It is the government’s duty to identify bogus ration cards and cancel them. If a person has died and the family has not surrendered the card, what can we do?,” asked Arup Dutta, a ration dealers’ association leader.