Govt should explain details of survey

Hyderabad: Congress Legislature Party deputy leader in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Tuesday opposed the move of Telangana government to introduce State Food Security Cards for the poor.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, he said the decision of the government had caused confusion among general public. He demanded that the government explain what happened to the details of the intensive household survey (IHS) that was conducted and why it had not yet digitised the information so far. By now government should have been ready with full information, he said.

Shabbir Ali said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government first created hype around IHS. People working abroad and in other States returned to their native place to participate in the survey. The government declared a public holiday and even kept the public transport and petrol bunks closed for the survey. Despite so much of hype, 20 percent of households remained uncovered, he said. The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) vice-president also objected to linking of Food Security Card to Aadhaar. He said nearly 70 lakh people in Telangana do not possess Aadhaar card. This was revealed in the IHS survey itself. He said the Supreme Court in September 2013 gave interim direction stating that Aadhaar card should not be made compulsory for availing government schemes or subsidies. Therefore, the TRS government's move linking new ration cards to Aadhaar was a clear violation of orders of the Supreme Court.