Karnataka: No rice, no Bhagya for this poor, Brahmin widow
P V Sundramma, the wife of a late politician and a mother of three, once lived well.
Mysuru: With elections looming, the government is going all out to publicise its welfare schemes, but the ambitious Anna Bhagya scheme under which rice is distributed for Rs 1 a kg to feed the poor, has been of little help to a 76 -year-old poor Brahmin widow, who was driven out of her son’s house by her daughter-in-law after he passed way.
Although, she has applied for a ration card thrice in the past four years to buy rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme, she has still not got it.
P V Sundramma, the wife of a late politician and a mother of three, once lived well.
Her fate changed after she lost her husband 12 years ago, her son seven years ago, and a daughter six years ago.
She had to move out of her son’s house and now lives alone, making papads and selling them for a living.
But the money she gets from it is not enough even to meet her medical expenses as she suffers from diabetes and other health problems.
Recounting her struggles with getting a ration card, she says she applied for it thrice, once on March 20, 2013, then on March 16, 2016 and again on February 14 this year.
“I even met the deputy director of food and civil supplies two years ago. As my name was deleted from the voters’ list after I moved out of my daughter- in- law’s house, my old voter ID was invalid and so they asked me to get a new voter ID and an Aadhaar card. I have managed to get both, but I still have not received my ration card to buy rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme,” laments the old woman, who can barely have two square meals a day today.