Hyderabad: The Centre has made it clear that it would not allow photographs of a Chief Minister, ministers or any individual on food security cards being distributed under the Food Security Act (FSA), of 2013.
The Telangana state government had recently placed orders to print over 80 lakh food security cards for distribution across all of its districts.
The card’s design, approved by state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, carries his photograph and that of the civil supplies minister Etela Rajender.
But the Centre said rice and other essential commodities are being supplied by the Centre at subsidised rates to the states and state governments cannot take credit for this scheme.
The Centre also warned that it would not supply subsidy food items to states, if they print the pictures of the Chief Minister or ministers on FSA cards.
The Centre then asked the state to print only the logos of Central and state governments on the cards. The rules have put the Telangana state government in a fix. It has asked officials to stop printing of the FSA cards for now and is planning to request the Centre to reconsider its decision.
Mr Rajender said though the Centre might be supplying subsidised food items to the state under the FSA, the TS government has been bearing a burden of over Rs 3,000 crore by relaxing the eligibility norms for obtaining FSA cards.
“We are supplying rice at just Rs 1 per kg, while the Centre’s price stands at Rs 2 per kg. The Centre has an upper limit of 5 kg per head but we are giving 6 kg. Also, we have raised the income limit to Rs 1.5 lakh in rural areas and Rs 2 lakh per year in urban areas, while the Centre’s is only up to Rs 75,000. The Centre should take all these factors into consideration,” he added. The Telangana government is planning to write to the Centre asking it to reconsider its decision.
