Hyderabad: The mileage that the TRS government had hoped to derive from the Centre’s National Food Security Scheme, set to be implemented from October 1, will not materialise.
While the Telangana state government has made all arrangements to issue Food Security Cards with photographs of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the Telangana government logo, the Centre has made it clear that only the logo devised by it has to be printed on the card.
The state government can use its own photographs and logos only on those cards issued by the state government by relaxing eligibility norms, like income limit etc.
An official in the civil supplies department said, “Different agencies had submitted six designs for the cards to the Telangana government. Of them, two were shortlisted and sent to the Chief Minister for approval.
The first design had the CM’s photograph on the top right, civil supplies minister Etela Rajendar’s picture towards the left and the TS logo in the middle.
The second design had the CM’s photograph and the TS logo on the cover page and the minister’s picture on the reverse side. The CM was to approve one of the designs last week but it was stopped after the government received a letter from the Centre about using only the Centre’s logo on food security cards.”
The Centre has ruled out allowing any changes in the card design on the ground that it is a national scheme with uniform implementation goals. It is now uncertain whether the government will be able to print and issue new cards by the October 1 deadline.
Telangana food cards for 95 lakh people
The Telangana State government had raised the annual income limit to Rs 1.5 lakh in rural areas and Rs 2 lakh in urban areas for ration cards in 2014, against Rs 60,000 and Rs 75,000 earlier.
According to the Centre’s data, there are 1.91 crore BPL families in the state, while Telangana data claims 2.86 crore, an excess of 95 lakh. With the Centre’s latest directives, the
Telangana government can issue its own cards only to these 95 lakh and issue cards with the Centre’s logo for the 1.91 crore beneficiaries.
