Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

DPL centres to be opened in five municipalities in Krishna district

VIJAYAWADA: Designated photo location (DPL) centres would be opened in five municipalities in Krishna district on Saturday for issuing ration cards to those who have not obtained them before, Joint Collector S. Suresh Kumar said on Friday. The centres would be opened in Gudivada, Jaggayyapeta, Pedana, Machilipatnam and Nuzvid and they would function until all new applicants were issued cards.

However, opening a DPL centre in the limits of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) was likely to take about 10 to 15 days.

“There is a problem with the software, which is not able to deal with the huge database of ration card holders in Vijayawada. Some changes may be required in the software for Vijayawada, which is delaying the setting up of DPL here,” Mr. Suresh Kumar said at the district food advisory committee meeting.

The Joint Collector said that civil supplies officials were enumerating the number of cooking gas connections that each household had only to generate statistical data and not for cancelling extra connections. He urged the consumers not to entertain any such apprehensions and disclose the exact number of connections to the enumerators. Representatives of different political parties and non-governmental organisations highlighted the inconvenience ration cardholders were being put to, whenever a fair price shop dealer was suspended for malpractice. It was forcing them to collect their rations from some other dealers. They demanded that alternative arrangements be made to distribute the rations from a temporary shelter near the old shop.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State executive member Ch. Babu Rao said several cardholders were suffering on account of various mistakes committed by the officials at the time of issuing the cards. It had been three years since any DPL centre was opened in the city. Cardholders who wanted to apply for old-age pension were the worst sufferers due to this.

Mr. Babu Rao pointed out that that the facility of booking a cooking gas cylinder on telephone or by sending an SMS was not proving useful, as the land phones were always engaged and the cell phones always switched off. The Joint Collector assured him that steps would be taken within a week to rectify the situation on these fronts.

Communist Party of India city secretary K. Subba Raju complained that consumers were not being supplied cooking gas refills on Sundays.

The quota of kerosene had been decreased from four to two, and this must be restored to the original level.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Build your dream home, now
Two runaway girls restored
It’s election budget: students
DPL centres to be opened in five municipalities in Krishna district
In Vijayawada Today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu