No card no rice, dealers tell poor

Visakhapatnam: The online system of payment as being dreamt by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu dealt a blow to the poorer sections of the society who were turned away by the ration depot dealers.

All the depots receive rice on first day of the month and dealers sell rice at the rate of Rs 2 to white card holders. Each individual in the card gets five kgs of rice.

On Thursday, when people went to the dealers carrying money, they were asked to produce RuPay and show bank accounts. Those who failed to show these two items were asked to go away without rice.

The city has 4.5 lakh white card holders and the rural area another five lakh. Only 10 per cent of the white card holders will be having bank accounts and not many have debits cards or RuPay card.

The government has no right to deny basic food items like rice for want of bank account of RuPay card. People belonging to the BPL group have every right to have their quota of rice, said CPM city secretary B Ganga Rao. Talking to this correspondent, he said now it was not possible to open accounts and obtain a card under the current situation. In many areas, the beneficiaries offered exact change and smaller currency notes, but they were turned down.

“The Chief Minister is behaving like a Tughlak by linking PDS to the banks,’’ Ganga Rao said and warned that the Left parties would launch an agitation till the government reverses the decision.