Manu Aiyappa, TNN | Jul 10, 2014, 05.01AM IST
BANGALORE: Food and civil supplies minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has set July 31 as the deadline for linking either EPIC or Aadhaar number to ration cards of all categories. He told TOI in an interview the department has taken this step to weed out bogus cards and promote voting. Excerpts:
How does linking the Elector's Photo Identity Card or Aaadhaar number to ration cards help when both cards are not foolproof IDs by themselves?
The government is keen on eliminating bogus cardholders who are affecting the efficiency of the Anna Bhagya scheme. We conducted several drives in the past and cancelled about 10 lakh bogus cards. But we suspect there are many more black sheep and therefore decided to adopt this method.
You've set a July 31 deadline. Isn't it too short a period ?
For the past three months, we publicized through all fair price shops to existing card holders to ensure the linking to avail free rice by July 15. I've given 15 days grace period. We cannot discipline our consumers unless we set tight deadlines.
What will happen to those cardholders who don't have either of the two cards?
I know not all BPL cardholders will have Aadhaar but certainly they should have EPICs. Even if they don't have it, they have time to get it done. This way we're also promoting voting. Lethargic people who didn't exercise their franchise may do so now.
Does this move not reflect the food and civil supplies department's lack of efficiency in weeding out bogus cards?
Not at all. We've done our best to weed them out. Using technology, we're making efforts to ensure bogus cards don't make a comeback.
Why hasn't the government been able to redress the complaints of misuse of Anna Bhagya scheme ?
The government has ensured there is no pilferage by conducting random checks, introduced GPS in vehicles and cancelling licences of fair price shops indulging in diversion and black marketing. The department has cancelled licences of 54 PDS shops and 20 shops have been suspended. We plan to give priority to panchayats and cooperative societies, including Sthree Shakti Sanghas to take distribution completely under the government's control.
The government had planned to open canteens to offer cheap food for the poor on the lines of Amma Canteens in Tamil Nadu... We decided to launch it in all government hospitals to start with. But the health and family welfare department wanted to do it on its own and is working on it.