Coimbatore: In yet another case of misplaced identity in the issuance of smart cards under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Tamil Nadu, a picture of Lord Ganesha was found to be printed on a smart card instead of the family head’s photo in Vadugapalayam town panchayat near Udumalpet in Tirupur district.
In a gaffe, the image of lord Ganesha was wrongly embossed on a smart PDS card instead of the picture of a 47-year-old farmer Nallasivam, who is the head of the family, residing in Kudimanagalam block near Vadugapalayam town Panchayath in Udumalpet taluk in Tirupur district.
The ‘smart card’ was issued by authorities to a householder in Sungaramadakku ration shop. When the affected family head Nallasivam enquired with the officials in the ration shop, they told him that they were in no position to help him and asked him to approach the e-service centre to replace the photograph.
In a similar faux pa, the photo of noted South Indian actor Kajal Aggarwal was embossed instead of the head of the family on a ‘smart PDS card’ that was recently issued in Salem.
The repeated mistakes done by the Food and Consumer Protection department authorities without cross checking the photos on the smart cards after getting them printed has enraged consumers who already had to run from pillar to post to get their PDS ‘smart cards’.
