UT Khader grilled in Assembly for unsatisfactory replies on issuance of BPL cards

Bengaluru: The delay in issuance of BPL ration cards found Food and Civil Supplies Minister UT Khader in a tough spot on Thursday with members of the ruling and the opposition parties in the Legislative Assembly grilling the minister over the delay.

On a query raised by Congress MLA Mohiuddin Bava, Khader had initially said that applicants from BPL category need not produce any supporting document to avail ration card. However, later in the written reply, he said providing Aadhaar numbers of all the members of the family is mandatory.

Khader said nearly 14.70 lakh applicants have sought ration cards which would be attended to in the next four months. Bava said the applicants are finding it tough to seed Aadhaar numbers and hence the ration cards are being denied by the Food and Civil Supplies department.

Leader of opposition Jagadish Shettar also pointed out that deceased IAS officer Anurag Tewari had called for suspension of a food inspector in Bengaluru South after he was found issuing 5,000 bogus ration cards but no action had been taken so far.

Further, he added that approximately over 50,000 applicants are awaiting the ration cards in each taluk. Khader said, “We have created a history by streamlining the system of issuing ration cards. We have done what could not be done in the last 25 years.”