<p>Rangamma, a domestic servant, has an APL card but does not find it useful. The sole bread-winner for her family, she finds herself frustrated with her APL card. <br /><br />“The people at the fair price shop had asked me to fill out a form to get additional documents for a BPL card. But I have to stand in a queue at 3 in the morning. As a lone woman, I cannot do that. Now I am stuck with this card which is of no use to me,” she rues.<br /><br />The story of the APL card is usually the same everywhere. For Devika, her APL card allows her access to seven litres of kerosene every month. She is luckier than Rangamma, who does not even get the kerosene and is forced to use her landlord’s APL card to get some kerosene occasionally.<br /><br />For most people, the obvious reason for getting an APL card is to either get a domestic gas connection or as an address proof.<br /><br />“This is only for address proof. I have no other use for it,” says Pramod, flashing his APL card. Pramod, an attender in a private company, would like to get more for his card, but knows he does not stand a chance. <br /><br />His sister Chikkalakshmi’s family of four which has a BPL card is a little luckier. “We do get about four kg of rice per person, a kg of sugar and two kg of wheat every month. The grains are of good quality,” she certifies. <br /><br />While she does feel that the quantity of wheat and sugar are woefully meagre, she is grateful that the family at least has sufficient quantity of rice.<br /><br />But Lakshmi’s family of six has to make do with only 10 kg of rice a month. “We are six, but we only get 10 kg. Even this is not supplied regularly. We have to keep checking at the fair price shop every day and wait till they finally decide to distribute,” she says</p>
<p>Rangamma, a domestic servant, has an APL card but does not find it useful. The sole bread-winner for her family, she finds herself frustrated with her APL card. <br /><br />“The people at the fair price shop had asked me to fill out a form to get additional documents for a BPL card. But I have to stand in a queue at 3 in the morning. As a lone woman, I cannot do that. Now I am stuck with this card which is of no use to me,” she rues.<br /><br />The story of the APL card is usually the same everywhere. For Devika, her APL card allows her access to seven litres of kerosene every month. She is luckier than Rangamma, who does not even get the kerosene and is forced to use her landlord’s APL card to get some kerosene occasionally.<br /><br />For most people, the obvious reason for getting an APL card is to either get a domestic gas connection or as an address proof.<br /><br />“This is only for address proof. I have no other use for it,” says Pramod, flashing his APL card. Pramod, an attender in a private company, would like to get more for his card, but knows he does not stand a chance. <br /><br />His sister Chikkalakshmi’s family of four which has a BPL card is a little luckier. “We do get about four kg of rice per person, a kg of sugar and two kg of wheat every month. The grains are of good quality,” she certifies. <br /><br />While she does feel that the quantity of wheat and sugar are woefully meagre, she is grateful that the family at least has sufficient quantity of rice.<br /><br />But Lakshmi’s family of six has to make do with only 10 kg of rice a month. “We are six, but we only get 10 kg. Even this is not supplied regularly. We have to keep checking at the fair price shop every day and wait till they finally decide to distribute,” she says</p>
