The Congress government in Telangana, led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, has decided to issue new ration cards to eligible Below-Poverty-Line (BPL) families, fulfilling one of the promises made by the party before the elections.
A cabinet sub-committee, constituted to determine the modalities for issuing new ration cards, held its first meeting at the state secretariat on Saturday to discuss the process.
The sub-committee is headed by Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, with Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy as its members.
After detailed discussions, the sub-committee decided to impose certain conditions for the issuance of new ration cards.
Firstly, families whose annual income does not exceed ₹1.5 lakh in rural areas will be eligible for the ration card. Alternatively, households with less than 3.5 acres of wetland or less than 7.5 acres of dry land will qualify.
In urban areas, the cabinet sub-committee has set ₹2 lakh as the annual income limit for eligibility for new ration cards.
The cabinet sub-committee also decided to seek input from MPs, MLAs, and MLCs from all parties regarding the provisional guidelines for new ration cards before taking further action.
"Our aim is to ensure that all eligible households receive new ration cards. We have drafted provisional guidelines and will also take the opinions of all parties before finalizing them," Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Currently, there are 89.96 lakh white ration cards in existence. An additional 10 lakh new applications have been received for the issuance of new ration cards.
"These applications will be scrutinized and filtered according to the latest guidelines on income ceilings and land details," the minister added.
