Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar said that new ration cards will be issued from May this year in the size of ATM cards. He said that new ration cards will be issued as soon as the eKYC process is completed on April 30. He revealed that the existing ration card will be reduced in size and issued with all the details.
He said that options for adding, removing family members and splitting cards will be given at the time of issuing the new cards. The minister said that new ration cards will be issued with security features like QR code. He clarified that there will be no pictures of people on the ration card like the previous government.
Manohar said that it will be clear to how many people new ration cards will be issued after the eKYC is completed. He also said that the second phase of Deepam-2 cylinder booking has started from Wednesday and oil companies have informed that 2 lakh new people have taken gas connections. The minister said that 35.93 lakh metric tonnes of rice were purchased during the Kharif season and Rs 8,279 crore was paid to the farmers.
Minister Manohar said that payments related to the purchase of rice were made in the accounts of the farmers within 24 hours. He said that the facility to purchase rice through WhatsApp has been provided and a total of 16,000 farmers have sold rice through WhatsApp.
The Minister said that Telangana has exported 1.50 lakh metric tonnes of rice through the ports in the state and the Centre has granted permission for these exports. He said that rice will be supplied to the mid-day meal scheme from June.
Minister Manohar said that rice used for the mid-day meal scheme is being stored and packed in 5 godowns. He clarified that the purchase of Kharif rice will continue in Rabi as well. He said that they are taking strict action against illegal smuggling of ration rice and that smuggling of ration rice has been included in the PD Act.
He alleged that the previous government had purchased MDUs worth Rs. 1600 crore and misused them, and that the purchase of those MDUs was a big scam. Minister Nadendla Manohar said that an investigation is underway and a decision will be announced soon.
