Andhra Pradesh to link Aadhaar to all sops

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government has decided to link all the welfare schemes, including ration cards and others, with the Aadhaar card.

AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday directed the officials in the matter.

The Chief Minister said that the enrolment of Aadhaar card was 94 per cent completed in the state and asked the officials to complete 100 per cent enrolment at the earliest.

Meanwhile the government is determined to weed out bogus cards which many people use even though they are not eligible for it.

According to official records, 4.5 crore families have ration cards in the state out of 5.5 crore families. The officials said hundreds of ration cards are with the ration dealers and they are being grossly misused.

The central government has decided to implement the food security act across the country.

At present, the state government is supplying rice to 90 per cent of the card holders. But the Centre will implement this scheme through Aadhar cards.

The Centre will supply rice 60 per cent in the rural areas and 40 per cent in urban areas. The state government is giving subsidy around Rs 2,000 crore to implement the subsidy rice scheme.  The Centre is allotting the rice at Rs 7 per kg to the state and state government is supplying it at Rs 1 per kg to the white card holders. Once the Centre implements the food security scheme the state government has to buy Rs 26 per kg from the millers. The state government on its own has to supply 30 per cent in rural areas and 50 per cent in urban areas.

The state government wrote a letter to the Centre to bear all the expenditure on the subsidy rice scheme.

State government officials said that the central government scheme will not help the state government and at the same time subsidy rice scheme will become additional burden.

Keeping this in view the state government has decided to weed out the bogus cards linking with Aadhar cards.

Ends/ SNCN Acharyulu. 8.10pm