Madurai: Villager thanks government for fixing ration card anomaly

MADURAI: A villager and his family from Madurai were stunned upon seeing the picture of a beer bottle in place of his wife's photo in the family card on the online portal. However, they felt relieved as the officials concerned fixed the issue immediately.

A 46-year-old villager, C Thangavel, of Chinnapoolampatti in Peraiyur taluk of Madurai, thanked the state government for replacing an incorrect photo on the family card.

Thangavel, who works in a brick kiln as a truck driver, on Wednesday, said he was shocked after seeing a picture of a beer bottle instead of his wife Jeyapriya’s picture on his family card when he tried to verify it in private browsing centre to enrol Jeyapriya in the TN Construction Workers Welfare Board at ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ camp that was held on August 22.

Following this anomaly, a team of officials from the Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection and Revenue Department visited his home and conducted an inquiry. They collected Jeyapriya’s photo and uploaded it to the official site in a flash.

Madurai District Supply Officer A Muthu Murugesa Pandian, when contacted, said the family was actually responsible for this anomaly. He said when family members tried to change the family card photo through a manual app, it ended in chaos.

Peraiyur Taluk Supply Officer M Bala Kumar said Jeyapriya is a PHH (Priority Household) card holder, and noted that no such issue cropped up on July 18 when her daughter’s name was deleted from the card, following the latter’s marriage.

When the manual app for family card corrections came into effect in 2017-18, many consumers were not aware of it, and eventually, discrepancies occurred. There were instances where even cards carried photos of film stars. As a result, the manual app system was suspended in just a span of six months. At present, personal details and images are uploaded to the official log only after thorough verification, the DSO told DT Next.