Hyderabad: Ration cards continue to elude rejected applicants

Hyderabad: More than one lakh rejected applicants are waiting for new ration cards. Though the Civil Supplies department claim it has completed filed verification of cards on July 20, a few applicants allege that no official visited their homes till date. Most of them are poor and eagerly waiting for the new ration cards to avail government benefits, including Aarogyasri, free ration.

Official records show nearly 106,818 applications were rejected in July last year without any field inspections. As per the recent orders of the Supreme Court, the department started the re-verification exercise on July 4. It concluded on July 20. Hardly 17 days were given for the field-level inquiry, which were not sufficient, as many beneficiaries' houses were missed. Hence, the cards-holders have requested for extending the re-verification date.

Said Rahul Roy, one of the rejected applicant, "after the release of the notification, the department said it would start the re-verification process. I was eagerly waiting but till date no official visited my home. I have also enquired with the circle office which said officials will be visiting; but none visited yet. Till I receive my new ration card I cannot avail of any government scheme."

According to B Rohan, another rejected applicant, "we are facing hardship to avail the new ration cards. Our application was rejected without providing any information/reason. We are eligible for a ration card, but the government did not consider my request and, without any information, my ration card got rejected. We are being deprived of various social schemes. Even when the re-verification started no official visited my home. It will be better if the government extends the date of the re-verification process."

Pointed out a member of ASEEM, a city-based NGO, "we have been fighting for the rights of rejected ration card-holders; we have also submitted a representation to the government for extending the dates, as many houses have been missed. Also, several cards were cancelled earlier as field-level officers were unable to locate card-holders who had shifted residence. Given the fact that a large number lived in rented accommodations, a helpline should be set up so that such card-holders can contact authorities"

Meanwhile, on condition of anonymity, a senior officer of the department, said, "data of the rejected card-holders has been collected; it will be uploaded in the Electronic Public Distribution System (ePDS) portal."