Hyderabad: The State government is planning to introduce a new policy for distributing White Ration cards soon. Under this new policy, having a white ration card will no longer be necessary to receive benefits from welfare schemes. New guidelines will be created to identify those eligible for new ration cards, which will only be used for the free rice scheme.
In the past, the governments of United Andhra Pradesh and the current BRS government in Telangana required residents to have a white ration card to access various scheme benefits. However, the new Congress-led state government has announced that a white ration card will not be needed for farm loan waivers and the Rajiv Arogyasri scheme cards, which will soon be available to all citizens in the State.
Previously, families had to submit white ration cards to receive benefits like fee reimbursements for their children’s higher education, housing sites, and self-employment schemes. Now, the government is considering removing this requirement. Officials have stated that the new policy will only be implemented after the cabinet sub-committee provides its recommendations.
State Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned that the government is ready to issue new ration cards, which will be valid only for obtaining subsidized rice at fair price shops (PDS centers). The cabinet sub-committee will establish the guidelines and eligibility criteria for these new ration cards. Currently, 90 lakh families have white ration cards. The new policy will identify eligible families and issue them new ration cards based on the committee’s recommendations, which will also need cabinet approval before being enforced.
