Thousands in pitiful state, deprived of Telangana government rations

Hyderabad: Governments across the country are making sincere efforts to lessen the ordeals of poor during lockdown by supplying rations timely. Many states are even respecting the norm of 'One Nation, One Card,' and allowing those with ration cards from other states to avail of the facility. However, for some people it is causing a deep anguish and pain as they are still awaiting issue of ration cards. One among such people is Girija Rani, a resident of Karwan, who says she applied for a card long ago and is still made to wait.

Thousands of people from marginalised sections have not been issued ration cards and their applications have been pending for along with the civil supplies department. For no fault of theirs, they are now forced to bear the brunt of lockdown and are unable to buy essentials at higher rates in the market.

"We have been struggling to get a ration card for us for the last couple of years, but in vain. Whenever we go to the issuing office, we are told they will look into the issue. Earlier we used to think this issue is only with us but we recently came to know that a lot of people are also in dire straits like us," said Girija Rani.

Similarly, for BN Raj Kumari, their application for ration card has been pending for over a year. "I am a handicapped person and I can't go around offices again and again to check the status. Now that we are in lockdown we can't avail of government schemes which were introduced for us. Now I am at my sister's place and depending on them. If the lockdown extends, it will really cause more problems," she said.

According to the officials, since 2016 the department has received around 1,50,022 applications, out of which 69,484 are pending and 28,938 applications are rejected by the department. B Bala Maya Devi, the Chief Rationing Officer, Hyderabad, said, "There are many applications pending with us for verification. Verifying an application takes time, as it is a lengthy process as the application has to go through verification and other factors before sanctioning it."

"Also, we have less staff as most of them are caught up with the work of distributing essential goods and, hence, the delay but we are making necessary arrangements with the help of NGOs if anyone is in dire need," the official added.