Panchkula: Erroneous records: BPL families denied ration
The digital governance system—meant to streamline welfare delivery—is instead preventing many genuine beneficiaries from accessing their entitled free ration.
Since June, numerous BPL cardholders have been regularly visiting the additional deputy commissioner's (ADC) office seeking corrections to their records. Their complaints include being shown as owners of four-wheelers, erroneous electricity bills running into lakhs and incorrect education records of their children.
As per Haryana's BPL criteria, families owning a four-wheeler or having an annual income above ₹1.80 lakh are ineligible for benefits. However, many complainants say they don't even own a two-wheeler.
ADC Nisha Yadav admitted that there is a 'mismatch in the system' and attributed the errors to the citizen resource information department (CRID) not receiving necessary APIs from the ministry of road transport and highways, which would enable accurate data syncing, assuring that the matter would be resolved within two weeks.
The issue came to a head on Monday when several affected families from Indira Colony and Rajeev Colony gathered outside ward no 7 councillor Usha Rani's residence.
Rani has urged the administration to expedite corrections, saying families are being deprived of their basic right to food.
Among those suffering is Vishnu Lal, a 69-year-old cancer survivor from Indira Colony, whose BPL benefits were stopped after a car was wrongly linked to his name. His son, a TB patient, and their family have been without ration for two months.
Amrita, a handicapped woman, also reported facing hardship after similar false entries.
Another resident, Kavita, said her son's school details were wrongly listed, and electricity dues of another household were showing up in her records.
According to councillor Rani and her husband Ram Prasad, hundreds of families citywide have been affected. They continue to queue up outside government offices, desperately seeking corrections.
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