Villagers yet to come to terms with SMS registration

Sajida Banu, a resident of Udayagiri in the city, had approached the Food and Civil Supplies department office on Wednesday, enquiring about the procedure of registering her ration cards.

She said that SMS procedure was cumbersome and was looking for an alternative method of registration. “It might be easy for a few people to send SMSes. But, for people like me, it is difficult to follow the procedure. There is also no clear information on whether it is compulsory to send details from my own phone,” she said.

Mahesh K, a resident of Jayapura, Mysore taluk, also complained about the difficulties of SMS procedure for residents of rural areas. “There is inadequate information regarding the programme, which I feel is implemented in a hurried manner.

Some of my family members are yet to be issued Aadhaar cards. In such a case, the department does not inform whether it is enough to send EPIC numbers only. Apart from it, there are two children at home, who have been issued neither Aadhaar nor EPIC numbers,” he said.

These people were among the hundreds of ration card holders, who have thronged the department office located at Deputy Commissioner’s office premises, with such complaints.

While some raised queries on the delay in issuing ration cards, others have sought clarity regarding the SMS procedure, as it was crucial for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of kerosene subsidies.

Last date

With this the department has been forced to extend the last date of submission of details pertaining to DBT of kerosene subsidies, owing mainly due to the complications in the procedure of submission of details.

While the department had earlier set a deadline of June 30 for eligible BPL card holders to submit details of their ration cards and EPIC and Aadhaar number of members listed under the card, the deadline has now been extended to July 15. Despite the new deadline, indications are that the department will have to extend the deadline further.

As of Wednesday, details such as Aadhaar numbers and EPIC numbers of only 5,35,650 persons, which include ration card holders and their family members, has been submitted.

According to the department, a total of 24,89,463 persons have been listed as beneficiaries of BPL cards in the district. Till date, ever since the circular for such registration process was issued during the month of March, only 21 per cent of the beneficiaries have submitted details.

Complicated procedure

Under SMS registration procedure BPL card holders have to send a text message - RCMOB, followed by a space, and ration card number. The text message should be sent from the mobile phone of the BPL card holder to 9212357123.

Later, the beneficiary should type RCEPIC, followed by a space and EPIC card number of a family member to the same number. The beneficiary should send EPIC numbers of other family members individually to the same number. Later, he/she should type RCUID and send Aadhaar card numbers (optional) of his family individually.

Errors

An official of the department in H D Kote under the condition of anonymity, said that there were some problems with the SMS registration procedure. “While a few people have committed the mistake of sending Aadhaar number after typing RCEPIC, others have sent EPIC numbers after using the keyword, RCUID. In both the instances, the card holders get a confirmation message.

However, there is no clarity on whether their registration would be a success,” the source said.
Moreover, few people have sent SMSes of details of several ration cards, from a single mobile phone, while only three cards can be registered using one phone number, the source added.

Deputy Director of the department of Food and Civil Supplies, K Rameshwarappa, said that there were several complaints regarding the SMS procedure.

“Several people have approached the department and spoke about the complications of the procedure. They have asked for an easier method to register their ration card numbers,” he said.
BPL card holders could also make use of the provision of registering their ration card details at Grama Panchayat offices, he added.