Haveri
Long queues have formed outside fair price shops across Haveri district as ration cardholders struggle to complete mandatory e-KYC due to slow server connectivity. Many beneficiaries, including elderly people, say they are being forced to leave their daily work and spend hours waiting at ration shops.
Under the Food and Civil Supplies Department’s instructions, all members listed on a ration card have to visit their designated fair price shop for e-KYC. Their Aadhaar details must be linked with the ration card and biometric authentication must also be completed. However, the slow server has made the process difficult, with shop operators able to complete e-KYC for only a few people each day.
September 30 is the deadline for completing the process. Beneficiaries say the deadline has created anxiety, while rumours that ration supplies may be stopped for those who fail to complete e-KYC have led to larger crowds. Some ration shop owners have also said they may stop e-KYC work when they begin distributing monthly ration.
Beneficiary Uma Patil said she had been visiting the ration shop for two days and had even stood in the queue from 3 am. She said elderly people were facing great difficulty due to the delay. Another beneficiary, Basavaraj, said only two or three people had completed e-KYC despite arriving at 6 am. He said some people had even taken leave from school and work to complete the process.
Haveri Food Department Deputy Director Manjunath said the server problem was being faced across Karnataka because of the large number of people completing e-KYC at the same time. He said a separate application is being developed and testing is underway. Around 8.23 lakh ration card beneficiaries are registered in Haveri district, but only about 1.30 lakh have completed e-KYC so far.
He said ration shop owners had been instructed to issue tokens instead of making people wait for hours. A mobile-based e-KYC facility is also being developed. He clarified that there is no immediate rule to stop ration distribution solely because e-KYC has not been completed, but beneficiaries who remain unverified could become ineligible for benefits later.