Aadhaar Number for Ration Card

'Aadhaar numbers of all members must for smart ration card'

News published by The New Indian Express on 26^th June 2016

MADURAI: Aadhaar numbers of all family members whose names are there in ration cards should be produced at the ration shops to be eligible for smart ration card, said S Gopalakrishnan, Principal Secretary and Commissioner, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, here on Saturday.

Speaking at a review meeting at the Collectorate on the ongoing linking of Aadhaar cards with ration cards, Gopalakrishnan said that the details of ration card holders, such as mobile number, type of card and number of persons in the family are being linked through an electronic device called Point of Sale (POS) at ration shops. “In addition, Aadhaar card numbers of all the family members on the ration card should be produced at the ration shops,” he categorically stated.

Stating that the linking process will eliminate maintenance of records such as A, B and Sitta registers by ration shop employees, Gopalakrishnan said that based on the records updated in the POS device, the government will initiate the process to issue smart ration cards.

Of the 9,37,005 card holders in the district, 50 per cent had updated their mobile numbers and 21 per cent had updated their Aadhaar card numbers. Ration card holders will receive SMS alerts for every purchase made at the shops, said Gopalakrishnan.

Though the updating began on June 1, the linking process failed to gain momentum with the civil supplies department declaring at the eleventh hour that photocopies of e-Aadhaar cards would not be accepted.

As it is, thousands of people who did not receive the Aadhaar cards are finding it extremely difficult to get the plastic Aadhaar cards at the e-service centres, courtesy technical problems and shortage of employees. The new decision to enroll the Aadhaar numbers of all the family members has compounded their woes.

Commenting on this, R Jeeva, District Supply Officer, said photocopy of the e-Aadhaar card had to be scanned to be linked with the POS device. “Necessary instructions will be given to the employees at the ration shops to accept the e-Aadhaar cards. Card holders should approach e-service centres to get Aadhaar card for their family members. We hope to complete the entire process before July 30,” she said.

“Necessary steps have been taken to fix the technical problems at the e-service centres. Additional staff will be employed,” Collector K Veera Raghava Rao said.