By Jilawatan

a standing testimony to the rampant corruption and irregularities in issuing the white ration cards in Andhra Pradesh, for the sake of benefiting from various welfare schemes, the officials have issued a ration card with the photo of ace tennis star Sania Mirza on it.
The ration card number 800444, issued in Vepadu village of Vizianagaram state in Andhra Pradesh, carries a glamorous photo of Sania Mirza with a 20 year old youth Lakshmi Narayana and describes her as his wife.
The card was issued by the revenue department despite the fact that Sania is a well known person in her home state and it was obvious that her photo was pasted along with that of Lakshmi Narayana in gross violation of rules. Sania, a millionaire, is a resident of the posh Jubilee Hills area in Hyderabad
It is compulsory to get the ration card issued the couple should personally make an appearance and get photographed. Secondly Iris technology involving the photograph on the cornea of the eye is also used to make the process foolproof. But obvious the officials issued it without following the rules.
The bogus ration card with Sania’s photo was one of half a dozen bogus cards which were produced before the media by the minister for civil supplies J Krishna Rao after the Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had a review meeting with the officials. He issued stern orders that an estimated 45 lakh bogus ration cards in the state should be weeded out during the drive to be launched from July 1st.
As a white ration card, meant only for the below poverty line families, entitles the people to pension, housing, and free health insurance apart from the Rs 2 per kg rice, almost every family has tried to secure one irrespective of its income level.
Commenting on the irregularities minister Krishna Rao said that this shows that there were loopholes in the system and they need to be plugged to prevent the issue of such bog cards.
Officials say that there were an estimated 45 lakh bogus white ration cards in circulation in the state taking the total number of white cards in the state to about two crore, a level where the total population of the state becomes 9.80 crore instead of the correct figure of 8.30 crore.