About 100,000 in Mysore lose right to Re 1 rice

The hitch comes due as many beneficiaries have not yet completed certain processes such as sending SMS for registration

Nearly 100,000 consumers in Mysore district have lost their entitlement of subsidised rice supplied by the Karnataka at Re 1 a kg through the fair price shops chiefly due to their failure to comply with the process like sending an SMS.

The district had as many as 733,898 ration cards, comprising of 50,519 under Antyodaya Anna Scheme, 548,559 under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) and 134,820 of Above Poverty Line (APL) categories in 2013-14.

For renewal of these ration cards, online requests are being received from the cardholders from 2013. Those residing in the rural areas have to send an SMS informing of their EPIC and Aadhar numbers or photo and biometric either through their mobile phone or ‘Atalji Janasnehi Kendras’.

Cardholders in the urban areas have to SMS their EPIC and Aadhar numbers, and photo and biometric through private photo service centres or ‘Atalji Janasnehi Kendras’. Those living in Mysore city have to send an SMS through their mobile phones or through the ‘Mysore One’ centres. As on October 20, 470,286 cardholders had fulfilled this condition, while 263,612 were yet send SMS.

Besides, between November 2012 and December 2013, 176,637 people had applied for new ration cards and officials of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies have made spot verification through the fair price depots concerned. To these new card seekers, 32,070 new cards had been issued, 11,073 applications had been rejected, 10,584 cards are ready for distribution, while 122,910 applications are yet to be decided. Of the 122,910 applicants, 55,092 had sent SMS, while the rest of 67,818 were yet to comply.

Taking steps to weed out irregular cards, the department commissioner based at Bangalore has either suspended or cancelled 97,336 cards so far from April last.

Following this, the affected consumers held a demonstration on October 20 before the deputy commissioner’s office here protesting the denial of subsidised rice at Re 1 under the scheme introduced by the Siddaramaiah government. They also protested against the lack of any information regarding the reason for cancellation or denial of rice to them. The sudden denial had affected the poor.

At a meeting yesterday at the DC’s office, district incharge minister V Sreenivasa Prasad reviewed the situation where the above details were made known, and he directed the officials concerned to resolve the issue by November next and also to issue ration cards to new applicants.