Ration delivery at doorstep: glitches annoy cardholders

Lakkoju Nagesh Babu
Visakhapatnam, March 29:

Though it has been two months since the launch of the scheme – Inti Vaddake Ration (ration delivery at doorstep) – it is still not on the right track and complaints pour in from cardholders.
With an aim to take the ration to the doorstep of the poor, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government launched the scheme with much fanfare on February 1 against the scheduled date of January 1.
However, glitches, both technical and manual, came in the way of its implementation.
As part of the scheme, over 9.000 mobile dispensing units have been pressed into service in the State to supply ration at doorstep. However, with delivery at doorstep proved impracticable, the vehicles are now being stopped at a corner of the road and cardholders gathering at it to collect the ration.
K. Raju, a resident at Burma Colony, says cardholders have to wait for long for the vehicle as they are in dark about the exact time when it arrives. Though ward volunteers are supposed to inform beneficiaries about the timing of the vehicle arrival, they hardly get any information from the volunteer concerned.
“Even after the arrival of the vehicle, we are not sure of getting the ration as problem of authentication or weighing surface. Earlier system is better when compared to the new one, ” he says expressing dissatisfaction over the scheme.
Similar views have been echoed by other consumers.
Under the scheme, an operator is provided with a vehicle on subsidy. With a helper, he delivers ration to beneficiaries. Initially he was paid Rs. 16,000 per month. However, when they expressed inability to operate with the meagre amount, the government decided to increase it to Rs. 21,000.
Narrating his woes an operator, seeking anonymity, says that after bearing the fuel cost, helpers’ charges and EMI, he gets a meagre amount, while the workload is more.
Consumers say the system should be streamlined to ensure proper delivery of ration to cardholders.