Hyderabad, August 05: Denying news reports that appeared in a vernacular daily stating that the government issued orders to introduce ration supply once three months under Public Distribution System, the Minister for Civil Supplies, Mr Jupalli Krishna Rao, on Wednesday clarified that no such GO was issued, but only circulars have been issued to the district Collectors and district Civil Supplies Officers to send their views whether such a system would benefit the people and the government.
Speaking to mediapersons in the Secretariat, Mr Jupalli Krishna Rao said that the circular was sent to the district officials to elicit their opinion whether such a move would create space in godowns and avoid leakage losses and cut down transportation expenditure, if three-month ration supply system was introduced in the State. However, no GO was issued introducing new civil supplies system, he clarified.
The minister said that there was no truth in the rumor that 10 lakhs ration cards would be deleted if biometric system was introduced at the fair price shops. The government has decided to introduce biometric system to prevent irregularities by the ration shop dealers, who were swindling the ration which was not purchased by the ration card holders, he pointed out. The biometric system would check the malpractice, he added.
The Minister also said that the biometric system was being implemented at 12 ration shops in the State as a pilot project. Citing examples, Mr Krishna Rao said that out of 196 ration cards at a ration shop in Bheemadolu in West Godavari district, only 183 cardholders were taking ration quota. In the same district, a fair price shop at Gudipoly village had 114 card holders, but 113 of them were found lifting their ration quota. In a ration shop at Balanagar near Hyderabad, only 175 cardholders were taking ration out of a total of 331 cardholders, he added.
——–NSS