It received 33 lakh applications for pensions and 68 lakh for ration cards so far
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. (Photo: DC/File)
Hyderabad: While people are struggling to submit applications for ration cards (food security cards) and pensions by standing in serpentine queues at revenue offices from morning till evening, the Telangana government is busy filtering out households based on the recent household survey.
The state has received 33 lakh applications for pensions and 68 lakh for ration cards so far. However, when verified with the household data, it was found that only 61 lakh households were eligible for these benefits, which means about 40 lakh will straightaway lose the benefit.
The number of applications for ration cards (food security cards) and pensions were arrived at based on applications received till October 15 and with the deadline to submit applications ending on October 20, many more lakhs are likely to be filtered out.
As many as 33,28,061 applications were received for pensions and 68,94,604 for ration cards. The total applications received as on October 15 stands at 1.02 crore. However, the data collected in the household survey showed that only 61.15 lakh were eligible for these benefits.
The government in its orders to officials clearly stated that, “The household verification format for cards and pensions shall be updated with the existing Samagra Kutumba Survey data (household survey).”
This clearly shows the government’s plans to filter out applicants by using the household data. However, the big question remains is whether the household survey was “error-free”. Though the survey was a huge success, the government machinery failed to do it perfectly.
Since it was a one-day survey across the state, officials struggled to complete the task and were unable to visit each and every household and even when they visited they just took Aadhaar card numbers and left.
Most of the applicants seeking cards and pensions hail from the poorest of the poor sections and are either illiterate or semi-literate. Their details were not taken correctly in the survey and they now face the risk of losing food security.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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