Telangana to verify 19 lakh cancelled ration cards

HYDERABAD: After being pulled up by the Supreme Court last April over the cancellation of around 19 lakh ration cards without giving the cardholders an opportunity to defend themselves, the Telangana government has decided to conduct filed verification of 19 lakh ration cards cancelled in 2016, based on the district and mandal-wise list provided by the National Informatics Centre.

The Consumer Affairs, Food & Civil Supplies Department has issued guidelines on how to conduct the field verification. In a memo circular, the State government’s Ex-Officio Secretary and Civil Supplies Commissioner V Anil Kumar has asked the district officials to ensure verification is carried out meticulously without room for criticism and to complete the procedure by July 20.

The deleted cardholders’ data will be taken up at fair price shop level for field verification. In case, the deleted cardholders don’t approach the field verification officer, they have to reach out to them through the post to the registered address, or call them up on the registered mobile numbers. The inspection officers were asked to note the reasons for either accepting or rejecting the pleas and to upload the same in the ePDS portal.