Lakhs of poor in Telangana denied free ration, money: Congress

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress has charged the state government with denying promised rice and financial assistance to lakhs of poor people across the state on some pretext or the other.

In its second Open Letter to chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday, the TPCC Covid-19 Task Force stated: "The chief minister had announced on March 22, 2020, that the state government will supply free 12 kg rice per person and Rs. 1,500 to each of the 87.59 lakh white ration cardholders in the state. However, some of these ration card holders were denied 12 kg rice saying that their cards have been cancelled due to non-drawal of rations for three months. All such cards should be immediately restored and rice supplied to them immediately by making an announcement to this effect".

TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar said that in the PM Relief Package, 5 kg rice and 1 kg dal were promised to all ration cardholders for three months. He added that Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her press conference on March 26, had clarified that 5 kg rice and 1 kg dal was in addition to the subsidised ration being already given.

Moreover, he noted that on April 13, a press release of PIB (Press Information Bureau) had announced that food grains and pulses had already been despatched to the states.

However, he said the rice and dal promised by the Centre has not been distributed so far to beneficiaries in Telangana. He asked the CM to clarify and specify the time by which the promised rice and dal will be distributed to poor people.

He pointed to contradictions in statements made by state finance minister T Harish Rao and IT minister K T Rama Rao.

While Harish Rao on April 13 stated that Rs. 1,500 would be transferred to the accounts of all 87.59 eligible persons, Rama Rao tweeted the same night that around 74 lakh bank accounts in Telangana will be credited with Rs. 1,500 as promised by the CM the next day.

"The saying that the ‘left hand does not know what the right hand is doing’ appears very apt in this contradiction," he underlined.

The TPCC chief said there was no response from KTR when Congress leaders asked him in reply to his tweet about the fate of 13 plus lakhs white cardholders left out.

"Civil Supplies Corporation chairman Mareddy Srinivas Reddy told the media the next day that the amount could not be deposited into the accounts of remaining 13.42 lakh white ration cardholders due to technical problems, including non-linkage of bank accounts, among others," he said and demanded that the state government disburse the amount among remaining beneficiaries without any further delay.