Hyderabad: The Centre and the Telangana government will resume ration rice distribution for three months in a single phase. Beneficiaries will receive rice for August, September and October together in view of El Niño-induced drought conditions.
Officials instructed ration dealers to submit the number of eligible cardholders. They assured dealers that rice stocks would reach them before the end of the month.
Hyderabad district has 8,42,348 ration cards. Rangareddy has 6,72,909 cards, while Medchal has 6,53,801 cards. Together, the three districts receive about 39,750.277 metric tonnes of rice every month. Beneficiaries also receive sugar and wheat through the Public Distribution System.
Ration rice distribution raises storage concerns
Earlier this year, the government supplied rice for April, May and June in a single phase. However, e-PoS machine failures forced some beneficiaries to make repeated visits to fair price shops. Therefore, officials are updating the software to improve fingerprint and iris authentication. They aim to complete the verification process within five minutes for each beneficiary.
Meanwhile, several ration dealers expressed concern over storing three months’ worth of rice at one time. Many fair price shops in Greater Hyderabad operate from small premises. Dealers said they struggled to store stocks during the previous three-month distribution. Some have now started making arrangements to store rice at their homes. They requested officials to supply stocks in phases over 10 days.
Additionally, the e-KYC process remains incomplete in many areas across the three districts. Although the exercise has continued for two months, some beneficiaries have not completed the formalities.
Officials have directed beneficiaries to complete e-KYC by July 31. However, many beneficiaries said Aadhaar updates and technical issues at MeeSeva centres delayed fingerprint and iris authentication. They urged the government to extend the deadline. Officials said e-KYC completion reached 80% in Hyderabad, 76% in Rangareddy and 78% in Medchal.