Elderly couple in Odisha denied ration card

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar , Jan 8:

A landless couple from Odisha has been at the receiving end of the alleged large scale irregularities in the distribution of ration cards under National Food Security Scheme (NFSA). An elderly couple from Balianta under Sarkanda panchayat in Khurda district are struggling to make ends meet after their ration card has been issued to another applicant due to an error in the database entry.

Rama Behera (65) and her husband Nidhi Behera (70), residents of ward number-7, have been left out of the NFSA beneficiary list and their their card has been issued to some other person.

Rama Behera had enrolled herself at the block office. Her application registration number is 19011311379.

However, the card has been issued to another applicant bearing the same registration number.

The couple is at their wit’s end as they survive on old age pension and goat rearing.

Adding to their woes, Rama had an accident while herding goats and is suffering from a back injury due to which she is unable to travel to the block office to get the mistake rectified.

When questioned, the sarpanch Soudamini Das has said that they are trying to include worthy and needy people like Rama Behera in the ration card list.