Nizamabad: PDS beneficiaries baffled over OTP

Nizamabad: The poor who get their groceries through the Public Distribution System in Bodan town are knocking the doors of Mee Seva centres with uncertainty. Recently, the district administration has decided to make the distribution process transparent and in this regard, it has called for linking the beneficiaries' mobile phone numbers with the ration card, where they would be sent One Time Passwords to receive groceries from the fair price shops.

However, the people of Bodhan town are having trouble in linking their mobile phone numbers to the ration card. While some are worried about how they would get an OTP when they don't have phones, others, especially who receive the OTP on their family members mobile phones, are clueless about how they would get the groceries when they have to show the OTP while the phone is with someone else. Meanwhile, the poor who have phones are rushing to Mee Seva centres to link their phone numbers to ration cards.

Many beneficiaries are furious at the new change and felt that the old way of getting groceries using the fingerprints was convenient to all, especially those who lack phones and are illiterate old people. "I learnt about the new rule only when I reached the fair price shop. It seems to be a crime to not to have a phone. There are many women like me who don't own phones. We don't know whom to approach and whom to ask. We are helpless and want the government and officials to help us," said an old woman, who was seeking help at one of the Mee Seva centres in Bodhan.