Andhra Pradesh: Bureaucratic, Technical Glitches Delaying Changes in Ration Cards

 Kurnool: Despite Civil Supplies minister Nadendla Manohar’s clarification that marriage certificates are not mandatory for obtaining ration cards or making corrections within them, ground-level realities are different.

Sachivalayam staff and other agencies are still insisting on wedding cards, photographs and supporting documents as proof of marriage even for minor corrections. This is becoming a major problem for newlyweds trying to include their spouse's name in the ration card.

The issue gets compounded with regard to poor families. They do not possess marriage certificates. They are thus forced to spend money on printing wedding cards or arranging alternate proofs.

Further, applicants must apply within 60 days of marriage at the local Sachivalayam to include the name of their spouse. If they do not do so, they have to approach the sub-registrar’s office, where expenses can be between Rs 2,000–Rs 3,000 by way of costs such as challans and printing. Despite this, the application process often does not proceed unless a marriage registration number and photograph are uploaded.

The uploading process itself is a major hitch. The website is frequently unresponsive during working hours, resulting in long delays. "Even if the server works briefly, staff take more than an hour to process each application. It is open only before 10 a.m. and after 5 p.m., when no staff are available. I had to beg officials to get my work done,” complained B. Srisailam from Kodumur.

Adding to woes, several women married across state borders are stuck in a bureaucratic tangle. They are told to remove their names from Andhra Pradesh ration cards before applying in the new state. AP officials reportedly say that names can be deleted only upon death. This is a major problem in the erstwhile Kurnool district.

Significantly, technical errors in ration cards are affecting many in accessing government benefits. For example, inaccurate age entries are depriving some students of fee reimbursement. In several cases, gender details have been wrongly entered — women registered as men and vice versa.

Importantly, there are complaints that most tasks get done if the applicants pay bribes to the sub-registrar staff.

When contacted, a senior official from the Civil Supplies department stated that the state government is working out modalities to address such issues and rectify procedural shortcomings.