Bhagavata Radha lives in a ramshackle rented house at Neralakoneru in Allipuram area. With her husband, a painter, left without a source of income due to the lockdown, she is now wondering how much longer their family can sustain themselves.
“We have two daughters. As five electricity consumer numbers have been seeded to our Aadhaar, we have been deprived of benefits being given by the government to beneficiaries,” Radha told The Hindu on Wednesday.
She was one among many who vented out their woes at the APEPDCL office in Pandimetta for being left out of government benefits after multiple electricity service numbers were erroneously seeded to their name.
The State Government, due to the COVID-19 crisis, has decided to give 20 kg rice and one kg of red gram free to the white card-holders. This apart, ₹1,000 cash benefit is also given. Selection of beneficiaries for house-sites has also been finalised.
The ward secretariat has informed Lanka Raju, an auto-rickshaw driver, that his ration card will be cancelled as three power connections were seeded to his Aadhaar number.
“I have been deprived of government benefits due to this problem,” Lanka Raju bemoaned. He stays in a rented house at Venkateswarmetta.
It’s a different story in the case of K. Bhaskar Rao, who works at an automobile showroom.
“I was given a house under the Rajiv Gruhakalpa scheme at Marikivalasa when the Congress was in power in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh. Apart from a grant of ₹15,000 under Amma Vodi scheme for educating my children, ration and other benefits being extended to those having white ration cards have also been denied to me. The reason being cited is that I apparently own three houses as three electricity service connections are seeded to my Aadhaar number,” he said.
When contacted, an official of APEPDCL clarified that at the time of distribution of LED bulbs, some persons might have fraudulently claimed the bulbs by citing Aadhaar numbers of other individuals. Some tenants were also given bulbs against service numbers referred by them.
He said service numbers not linked to them could be removed easily by submitting an application at the electricity revenue office concerned.