Hyderabad: Women are all set to get the status of “Head of family” in ration cards. The state government has decided to reissue ration cards to all households as per the new provisions within the next three months.
Men were given this status all these years, which they will lose to women following the implementation of National Food Security Act. The Act mandates women aged above 18 years to be the head of the family in ration cards. Men will be head of the family only in case there are no women in the household.
“It’s the women who take care of food and nutritional security of their family members. They are the natural custodians of food security in the family. They form the backbone of the family set up. It is for these reasons that the government recognises the eldest adult woman as the head of the household in the ration cards as stipulated under the National Food Security Act.
This is a novel way of empowering women,” said commissioner of civil supplies Sunil Sharma. The department has directed officials at district and block levels to make necessary arrangements for re-issuing ration cards at the earliest.
The Act states that the eldest woman in a family who is not less than 18 years of age shall be deemed as the head of the household in ration cards. In case the household doesn’t have an adult female member, but has a girl below 18, then she will become the head of the household once she turns 18.
Large-scale misuse of ration cards by men was also said to be the reason for prompting the government to issue ration cards in the name of women. There are instances of men, who are addicted to alcohol and gambling, pledging their ration cards with ration shop dealers to borrow money from them. When they fail to repay, the dealers use their cards to divert ration items to the black market and earn profits.
Next: Ration cards to be reissued
Ration cards to be reissued
Hyderabad: The government is looking at the reissue of ration cards as a good opportunity to weed out bogus cards. According to the 2011 Census, the state’s population is 8.50 crore. However, there are 2.25 crore white cardholders in the state. Assuming an average family consists of four members, the total number of beneficiaries stands at nine crore, which exceeds the state’s population of 8.5 crore. This would mean that the entire state’s population falls Below Poverty Line, indicating that there are lakhs of bogus ration cards in the state.
“The reissuing of ration cards with women as heads of household will be a good opportunity to weed out bogus cards. We will collect the details of all households afresh. Biometric details of the eldest woman in the family will be taken. Biometric devices will be installed at all ration shops. Food items will be delivered only if the biometric details match with the beneficiaries. This will ensure that only genuine beneficiaries get subsidised food items,” said minister for civil supplies D. Sridhar Babu.
Officials said that the domestic LPG connections would continue to be the same wherein men would be the designated heads of households. The white ration card is the sole eligibility criterion for availing benefits of welfare schemes being implemented by the Central and state governments. These include free education for professional and higher education courses, free medical treatment, free housing, pensions, etc. They were introduced by late CM Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy between 2004 and 2009, which had led to a huge demand for white cards.
However, the BPL families are actually increasing with each passing year, thanks to “vote bank politics”. Rajshekhar Reddy had increased the income limit for BPL category from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 per annum in rural areas and from Rs 24,000 to Rs 75,000 in urban areas. With this, crores of additional families came under the BPL category and have been availing the benefits of welfare schemes.
However, as per the Centre’s norms, the BPL income limit is just Rs 27,000 per year. With the state planning to implement the Food Security Ordinance from September 1 this year, the subsidy burden on the exchequer will increase to Rs 4,598 crore per annum.
