State to conduct special drive to speed-up issue of ration cards

This decision was taken after the district supply office received numerous complaints from citizens saying that the process was troublesome as welll as time-consuming

To streamline the process of issuing ration cards and make it a less harrowing experience for citizens, the state is planning to conduct a special one-day drive. Under this plan, the district supply office will accept applications for new ration cards and submissions to update the information of existing ration cards.

Awareness campaigns for this drive will be held in the city as well as rural parts of the district. Pic/ Mohan Patil

The decision to launch this drive was taken after the district supply offices received numerous complaints from citizens saying that that the application process was troublesome and time consuming.

“The drive will be held in the coming week,” said District Supply Officer, Jyoti Kadam. According to the food and civil supply law, it is mandatory for the district administration to issue new ration cards within 30 days of the application date while damaged ration cards are to be replaced within two days. Temporary ration cards, for those who have migrated from the other states, are to be made available in 15 days.

However, offices under the district supply office take minimum two months to issue the ration cards. The gruelling process to acquire the yellow ration card (for families with annual income of Rs 15,000), orange ration card (for families with annual income between Rs 15,000 to one lakh) and white ration card (for families with annual income of one lakh and above) at Rs 10, 20 and 50 respectively, are obtained through agents for Rs  2,000.

“I have directed all Tahsildars to accept the application from the beneficiaries of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme and Below Poverty Line (BPL) section. The new ration cards would be distributed by the end of this month. Awareness campaigns for this drive will also be held in rural parts of the district, Kadam said.”

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