Telangana: Poor left in a fix as authorities drag feet over ration card applications

HYDERABAD: Pending ration card applications, some for over a year, with civil supplies department was a major hurdle for thousands from the marginalised sections of society who could not get access to food supplies during the nation-wide lockdown.
“When my fingerprint was not recognised by the machine at our local ration shop, I was told that the ration card was not operational,” B Raj Kumari, a 33-year-old physically challenged resident of Secunderabad told STOI. She is struggling to avail government aid as her ration card application is pending for over a year. Despite re-applying twice last year, Kumari said that her application is yet to be cleared by the authorities.
“I can’t walk properly, and it is very difficult for me to go the ration shop every now and then to check if my application has been approved. I also need the ration card so that I can get the Aarogyasri services and get my knee surgery done,” said Kumari.
As per official records, nearly 78,000 ration card applications are pending with the authorities. In 2019, only around 7,400 applications out of nearly 59,000 applications were approved while 2,610 were rejected. “Since 2016, the department has received around 1,50,000 applications of which over 60,000 are pending and close to 29,000 were rejected. Despite several requests from applicants, there has been no progress in resolving the issue,” said RTI activist Mohammad Shafi.
Another applicant waiting for his ration card application’s approval is Syed Mihraj of Shaheen Nagar in Old City. Mihraj said that there are over 40 families in his locality who are in a similar position. “I applied for a ration card for myself and my family members before the state elections in December 2018. It has been two years and still there is no progress,” he said.
When contacted, district civil supplies official C Padma said, “There is no time specification on how long it might take to process the applications but as of now, we are not doing it. We are waiting for government order for approval of these applications.”