Hyderabad|India|June'2009: Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has called for effective delivery mechanism at the district level in implementation of all government schemes and programmes to achieve the objective of “saturating the needs of every common man.”

“Effective delivery mechanism is the hallmark of good governance. Every rupee that we spend on welfare of people should be properly and judiciously utilised, so that benefits of every scheme reach every eligible individual. Our ultimate objective is to ensure that the needs of people reach the saturation level,” the Chief Minister told the officials, while finalising the agenda for the first Collectors’ Conference of the new government, scheduled to be held at Jubilee Hall on June 26 and 27.

Stating that the government is only a trustee of the people’s money, Dr Reddy said whatever might be the scheme, its benefits should reach only the deserved and not a single paisa should be misused. “Under any circumstances, the administration should not allow ineligible individuals garner the benefits of the government schemes at the cost of eligible beneficiaries,” he said.

Reacting to an observation made by a senior official that there are nearly 30 lakh bogus white ration cards in the state, the Chief Minister said flourishing of such a huge number of bogus ration cards resulted in loss of crores of rupees to the state exchequer. “It could be 30 lakh or 35 lakh; the actual figure will come out during the ongoing door-to-door survey. It will also identify how many eligible households are yet to get ration cards. I have been cautioning the officials about the presence of huge number bogus ration cards. I even raised the issue during the Collectors’ Conference held on July 2 and 3, 2008. I pointed out that in some districts, the number of ration cards exceeded the total population and gave strict instructions to the Collectors to weed out bogus cards. But the result was not up to our satisfaction,” he said.

The Chief Minister wondered how the officials remained blind to glaring mistakes in the issuance of ration cards. “How can tennis player Sania Mirza get a white ration card? Who is responsible for issuing the ration card with No.800444, in the name of Sania Mirza, wife of Lakshmi Narayana, Vepadu village in Vizianagaram district? Has he gone mad? Is it not a failure of the district authorities? Several such blunders have come to my notice. I want that the officials should avoid such mistakes in future,” he said.

Stating that white ration card being issued by the state government has its own sanctity in the entire country, Dr Reddy said the card had multiple benefits. Apart from Rs 2 a kg rice scheme, the white card was also helpful in gaining other benefits such as Arogyasri health scheme, other essential commodities, free education, Indiramma houses and pensions. “Weeding out of one bogus card will result in savings in Rs 2 lakh worth free health insurance, essential commodities worth Rs 6,000, education facilties worth Rs 1 lakh and pension to the tune of Rs 2,400 per year. This amount could be used to extend similar benefits to another genuine beneficiary. So, you can imagine how many crores of rupees could be saved by weeding out lakhs of bogus ration cards and how many other real beneficiaries could get the benefits of the government schemes. This is what we call effective delivery mechanism,” he pointed out.

The Chief Minister directed that a short-term action plan be initiated to complete weeding out of bogus cards and issuance of cards to genuine beneficiaries. “There should be no scope for any political interference or misuse of official machinery,” he said.

He also called for people’s cooperation in this mission. “If you have any information about possession of bogus ration cards by ineligible people or local fair price dealers in your locality, please pass on the information to officials concerned. A toll free phone would be made available for the people to make complaints and the information would be kept secret,” the Chief Minister said.

Reachout's News Bureau
 June' 2009