The ambitious programme launched by the State government envisaging crediting of ₹1,500 cash to the accounts of white ration cardholders continues to encounter problems.
After the initial difficulties in collecting the data pertaining to the accounts of all cardholders, the Civil Supplies department, which is the nodal agency for implementing the programme, is said to be faced with mismatch in the account numbers and Aadhaar numbers of cardholders.
The programme was launched early this month, following an assurance by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao that ₹1,500 each, totalling ₹1,314 crore, would be credited to the accounts of white cardholders. The amount, according to them, would enable them to buy groceries other than rice to overcome the financial problems faced by them due to the ongoing lockdown.
The department, after obtaining consent of the Finance department, successfully credited ₹1,112 crore to the accounts of 74 lakh beneficiaries out of the more than 87.5 lakh cardholders across the State. These 74 lakh cardholders, according to the records available with the department, were regular users of the white ration card lifting their monthly quota of essentials from fair price shops.
But there were complaints from a section of cardholders that they were being denied the benefit as they had no bank accounts. In respect of such cases, the department announced that they would not be left over and, accordingly, initiated the process of providing the assured amount to genuine beneficiaries through post offices covering around 5.2 lakh beneficiaries.
Even as the process is under way, the department is now faced with mismatch in the accounts and Aadhar numbers in the data obtained by it and it was accordingly decided the take steps for rectifying the errors and synchronising the data. In addition, about 6 lakh cardholders had been set aside from the ambit of the scheme as they had not used their ration cards for more than six months.
“But, it is observed that over 2 lakh such cardholders have drawn their ration from fair price shops, albeit after long gaps, in April since the scheme was announced. We are verifying the data of such beneficiaries and the amount will be credited to these accounts once the verification process is completed,” an official told The Hindu .
