e-KYC updation of 30 per cent ration card holders pending in Adilabad

According to officials, 7,59,238 households possess ration cards under 1,505 fair price shops operated in erstwhile Adilabad district

Adilabad: Around 30 percent of ration card holders in the erstwhile district have not yet updated their electronic- Know Your Customer (e-KYC) details even as the deadline of January 31 is fast approaching. The shortage of Aadhar centres is attributed to the delay in carrying out this task by the beneficiaries.

According to officials, 7,59,238 households possess ration cards under 1,505 fair price shops operated in erstwhile Adilabad district. There are 1,91,772 cards in Adilabad district, while Kumram Bheem Asifabad accounts for 1,39,784 cards. As many as 2,19,195 holders are in Mancherial and 2,08,487 beneficiaries are from Nirmal district.

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A total of 71.86 percent of card holders in Nirmal district, 64.76 percent of beneficiaries in Adilabad, 62.31 percent of holders from Kumram Bheem Asifabad and 64.76 percent of beneficiaries in Mancherial district updated their information so far. All members of a beneficiary family are required to record their thumb impressions on devices at the fair price shops as part of this exercise.

As per norms, the card holders should have Aadhar cards in order to register their thumb impressions on devices at the shops. Else, their information is not reflected in the database available at the fair shops. The beneficiary will lose the grains if he or she does not update their information. The beneficiaries are queuing up at Aadhar centres to record their thumb impressions and other data.

However, the beneficiaries are struggling to record their thumb impressions due to the shortage of Aadhar centres. For instance, Mancherial district used to house 20 e-Seva centres run by the Information Technology and Electronics Communication department. It currently has barely five e-Seva centers operated by the department, apart from the facilities run by the postal department and banks.

Officials of the civil supplies department said that elderly people, migrants and students have not updated their information. About 15 percent of beneficiaries are not using the cards. This means, anywhere between 15 and 20 percent of holders have to record their information at the shops. They are allowed to do this task at any shop in the country.