The Telangana State government is set to come out with new guidelines to determine the eligibility criteria for white ration cards, pensions etc. It has also decided to make Aadhaar mandatory for each and every scheme to be implemented by the government.
Till now, the income limit was the sole criterion for eligibility. However, the TS government has now proposed to introduce more parameters, besides income limit, to select beneficiaries. This is to ensure that the benefits of the welfare schemes reach only the needy, and that bogus beneficiaries are weeded out.
J. Raymond Peter, the principal secretary of panchayat raj and rural department, on Thursday held a video-conference with district collectors at the Secretariat to discuss the new guidelines. Several suggestions came up for discussion and officials have compiled a report incorporating all of them. This report will be referred to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao his approval.
The fresh guidelines being proposed include not issuing white ration cards, pensions to persons owning a house and a two-wheeler in rural areas. In urban areas, a person holding land of more than 80 sq. yards, owning a two-wheeler and having a double cylinder connection should be barred from having a white ration card.
The government is also thinking of raising the income limit in rural areas from Rs 65,000 to Rs 78,000 per annum, and in urban areas from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh. The monthly income limit in rural areas should be Rs 6,500 and in urban areas Rs 10,000.
Moreover, white cards should not be issued to government employees, business people and households owning five or more acres of land. Officials have decided to compile the data of ineligible persons based on the data collected in the Intensive Household Survey.
Source: Deccan Chronicle