Hyderabad: The Forum for Good Governance (FGG) has urged the government to remove ration cards that are held by ineligible families.
FGG President, M Padmanabha Reddy, pointed out that according to a recent press briefing by a minister, there are around 90 lakh ration cards, covering a population of 2.84 crore people. This includes both Union and State government figures.
The total population of Telangana is close to four crore. A report by NITI Aayog states that 3.74% of the population is considered multi-dimensionally poor. Other surveys suggest that about 20% of the population falls below the poverty line (BPL).
Based on this, only around 80 lakh people in Telangana actually need food security through the Public Distribution System (PDS). However, currently, 2.84 crore people are receiving free rice. This means that nearly two crore people who do not qualify are still holding ration cards.
These ineligible people are receiving six kilograms of rice per person, which adds up to 12 crore kilograms of rice per month. In terms of money, this leads to a leakage of Rs 600 crore every month because of these bogus ration cards.
To fix this problem, the FGG is calling for an intensive house-to-house survey to identify and eliminate these fake ration cards.
