Biometric authentication issues irk ration card holders
Ration Cards in Hyderabad to Be Distributed from July 14 – Over 1 Lakh Expected This Year
Adilabad: With the central and state governments jointly providing subsidised rice, the decision to distribute a three-month quota at once before the monsoon season has led to overcrowding at ration shops.
Beneficiaries are queuing up from early morning, waiting for their turn to collect their ration.
The process is further delayed as each beneficiary must undergo biometric authentication three times—once for each month’s quota—along with weighing the rice three times, causing inconvenience to both ration dealers and the public.
Biometric authentication troubles
Previously, biometric authentication was required only once for ration distribution.
However, software modifications in the e-POS system now require beneficiaries to authenticate separately for each of the three months. This has led to long delays, with each authentication taking 15 to 20 minutes due to signal issues.
In urban areas, this is causing frustration, while in remote agency areas, poor signal availability is making the situation worse.
Some beneficiaries, losing patience, are engaging in minor disputes with ration dealers. Both dealers and beneficiaries are urging authorities to modify the system to allow a single biometric authentication for all three months.
Confusion over new ration cards
Under the previous government, new ration cards were not issued. The newly formed Congress government promised to grant ration cards to eligible beneficiaries through its public governance programme.
Applications were collected, and names were listed in village meetings. However, those who removed their names from old ration cards in anticipation of receiving new ones are now left without any ration, as their names are missing from both old and new lists.
Some beneficiaries, despite being listed in village meetings, are not appearing in the final ration shop lists, forcing them to repeatedly visit service centres to reapply.
Many are now disappointed, urging the government to expedite the issuance of new ration cards so they can access government welfare schemes.