PONDA: In the past week, Fair Price Shop operators in various locations have initiated an electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) procedure for ration card holders. This process entails ration card holders visiting their respective Fair Price Shops along with their ration and Aadhaar cards to provide thumb impressions of family members using the electronic Point of Sale (e-POS) system. The aim is to verify and validate Aadhar cards for better accuracy.
As a result, consumers have been observed queuing up to complete this task, driven by concerns that failure to do so promptly might result in the loss of their ration entitlement.
While many have welcomed this move, believing it will deter unfair practices and eliminate bogus card holders, some consumers have voiced dissatisfaction, viewing it as a tedious, time-consuming process. With today’s technological advancements enabling nearly instant online transactions, these citizens are urging the government to devise a similarly efficient online solution for the KYC process.
A Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration card holder from Ponda suggested that the government should simplify the process rather than subject citizens to lengthy queues. He cited an incident involving his family, where he had been receiving monthly rations for four family members for years. However, last month, the Fair Price Operator informed him that his daughter’s Aadhaar Card needed updating. Consequently, the four kg rice allocation for his 21-year-old daughter was withheld until the Aadhaar was updated at the Ponda Civil Supply Office.
“The government did not flinch when there was wastage of Tur dal, which amounted to over one crore rupees, in the past. The same government has become strict about wastage and is now forcing people to undergo KYC procedures,” he said, expressing frustration.
