White ration card holders in the dark on Aadhaar linkage

The no-commodity white cards are largely proof of residence, as monthly rations cannot be drawn on them. When this matter was raised with civil supply officials in both Chennai and neighbouring districts, differing answers given by officials only added to the confusion. However, all insisted that non-commodity cards should also be Aadhaar linked. While district officials said that such linkage should be done through the nearest e-seva centre – the cards are not attached to any ration shop – Chennai civil supplies officials said the linkage should be done online, failing which e-seva centres should be resorted to. 

However, consumers complained that efforts to effect Aadhaar linkage through e-seva centres failed repeatedly, despite uploading all the details. When asked about this, a Chennai civil supplies officials said, “Linkage would be possible only if the mobile number was registered with the fair price shop (FPS) to which the card was attached. The FPS name would be on top of the old ration card,” they added. 

The linkage requires details of Aadhaar card, voter ID card, name of the gas agency and details of the number of cylinders. The address in all the three documents should be the same, for expeditious processing. 

However, not all non-commodity card holders were happy with the linkage news. “Why do we, who purchase nothing through the PDS (Public Distribution System) have to link our Aadhaar cards?” wondered S Gunasekaran, a consumer from Perambur. “Being a senior citizen, I do not relish the idea of waiting at an e-seva centre for an act which has no benefits for me,” he added.  

Meanwhile, civil supplies officials said that of the 1.97 crore ration cards in Tamil Nadu benefitting 6.87 crore beneficiaries, Aadhaar linkage was achieved with 6 crore consumers, and another 1.83 crore card holders have registered their mobile numbers. Chennai Metropolitan area has 20 lakh ration cards benefiting 83 lakh consumers, of whom  63 lakh have registered their Aadhaar details. Another 18.88 lakh have also registered their mobile numbers. “Till date, 90 lakh smart cards have been issued,” officials added.