Aadhaar fight all over again
Gas agencies are insisting on both the Aadhaar and the bank account numbers
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-10-30 02:44 GMT
Hyderabad: LPG agencies have fixed November 10 as the deadline for consumers to link their cooking gas connections with Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts to get direct transfer of subsidies, triggering another rush at Mee Seva centres.
This follows the NDA government’s recent decision to revive the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. The Centre said that in the new avatar of the DBT scheme, the Aadhaar card is not mandatory and only bank accounts need to be linked with gas connections. However, gas dealers are insisting on both the Aadhaar and the bank account numbers.
Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy feature in the list of districts where the DBT scheme is expected to be launched from November 11. Gas agencies say they don’t have bank details of about 7.6 lakh consumers in both districts.
Banks are insisting on Aadhaar cards to open new accounts. With this, people who did not get their Aadhaar cards earlier are rushing to Mee Seva centres to apply, while those who received their Aadhaar cards with errors are queuing up to get corrections or to update information such as change in address.
Mee Seva centre are having trouble coping with the rush. Those submitting applications now are being given appointments in December and January for enrolment. The government had announced that it would open 35 Aadhaar enrolment centres in GHMC limits from Diwali but that has not been done yet.
As per statistics available with gas agencies, out of 13,88,669 LPG connections in Hyderabad, 9,84,916 have bank accounts. In Ranga Reddy district, out of 14,32,365 gas connections, 10,68,305 have bank accounts.
“I submitted my Aadhaar application for change of address on October 21 at Ramanthapur Mee Seva Centre. Even for address correction, they are asking all our family members to visit the centre again and they will take biometrics and photographs afresh. They have given the appointment on December 27. How can we submit Aadhaar by November 10,” asked Mr P. Nagesh, a resident of Ramanthapur.
“We have not received any written communication from the oil marketing companies on Aadhaar. We were just informed that the DBT would be re-launched from mid-November. As per the old DBT method, agencies are asking for both Aadhaar and bank accounts. Even people are under the impression that if not now, Aadhaar will definitely be linked with LPG connections in the coming months since all the schemes of the Centre and state government are being linked to Aadhaar,” said Mr D. Ashok Kumar, president, Greater Hyderabad LPG Dealers' Association.