[Reader-list] Sania below BPL & Married ! - Jai Ho

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear Pawan,

Thanks for posting the story. I do know that most news media are in
the business of creating impressions of  those events which are
unfolding in real time but I didn't know that BBC specializes in
churning out stale news too.

The other view to such an argument, I call it blame the media
argument, could be, that of course, they are doing whatever they
could, to sustain an impression and therefore we must show our
gratitude to them for posting this story which is very important to
us.

However I so wish that in the process of churning stale news those who
write for BBC could also invest some moments of their precious time to
do their math-

Nearly 24 million ration cards are in circulation in Andhra Pradesh,
> which has only 19 million households. That means that over four
> million cards in the state are bogus.

24-19= 5 and not four as indicated. This figure is important because
we are talking about a possibility of a perception of one hundred
thousand bogus or fake ration cards. I think, even if, in reality the
figures quoted were to be taken to false then too, the perception of
such reality carries a lot of weight.

Plus, one more thing, are all households of Andhra Pradesh eligible
for a ration card? If not, then how did this venerable journalist
reached to a conclusion that, ' That means that over four million
cards in the state are bogus.' when the total household indicated as
per story seems to be, 'only 19 million'.

The other view of the same story relates to one which I posted on the
reader list about ten days ago and which could be accessed here-
http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2009-July/020619.html

Now we have two versions of the same story. The one which is so kindly
posted by you relates to how BBC would like us to view this story and
the other is the PTI version.

According to the PTI version, 'The Chief Minister himself revealed in
the state Assembly three days ago that there were as many as 2.15
crore white ration cards,' While the version from BBC is that, 'Nearly
24 million ration cards are in circulation in Andhra Pradesh, which
has only 19 million households.'

Therefore PTI says quoting CM of AP that there are 2.15 crore ration
cards while BBC says quoting no one, (after all it's the BBC stupid!
they cannot be bothered with who said what, they need to concentrate
on the big picture) that, 'Nearly 24 million ration cards are in
circulation in Andhra Pradesh,' Now our predicament is, who are we to
believe? What does 'nearly' as suggested in the BBC story, stands for?
Could it be 'nearly' 2.15 crore? Maybe. Could it be 'nearly' 2..35
Crore? Maybe.

Is there a conspiracy to maybe re-introduce 2.40-2.15= 25 Lakh bogus
cards again in the system? Why are there two versions of facts or
numbers. Variations in representation of a social reality, I can
understand but variations in representation of numbers!! Don't you
find it a little curious?

I would of course assume that the State Govt. of AP must have issued
some data. Then why are we not told the truth as it appears in the
official records?

I would assume that A.P govt must have relied on some survey to reach
at this bit of statistic. I would assume that since no census happened
since 2001. The govt. must be relying on 2001 figures. The 2001
figures, with respect to 'households' in AP is-  170.04 Lakhs or
1.7004 crores and the Government assumes for the purpose of the survey
that a house hold has four persons. This data which was published on
1/22/2008 could be accessed here-
http://www.aponline.gov.in/quick%20links/departments/health,%20medical%20and%20family%20welfare/commissionerate%20of%20family%20welfare/about/index_20032008.html

However there is another version, according to AP Consumer Affairs,
Food & Civil Supplies Department, the department in charge of issuing
ration cards, the number of Households are in fact, 1.68 Crores. This
data was issued on  6/13/2005. (
http://www.aponline.gov.in/quick%20links/departments/consumer%20affairs%20food%20&%20civil%20supplies/c%20s%20s,%20commissionerate%20of%20civil%20supplies/copy%20of%20about/index.html)

One wonders how could the household count in Andhra Pradesh might have
gone down from 1.7004 crores in 2001 to 1.68 Crores in 2005?

There is something else too, ration cards are distributed in four
categories in Andhra Pradesh. These categories are White, A.A.Y,
Annapurna,  and Pink these are then channeled through various
administrative units belonging to three types districts, mandals and
stockist points. The stoskist point or shops are simultaneously
classified as urban and rural. Now there are 40,971 such shops in
Andhra. The BBC and PTI and Tribune have done their job by giving a
platform to one such anomaly in the system. But what about the rest?
If this is the state of ration cards, then can one not imagine, what
will happen in case of MNIC?

To sum up- No of households in AP ?

BBC version-
19 million households

AP version-
17 million households

If these cards are going to be the basic documents which could be
called upon to produce as an evidence of one's Indian Citizenship and
therefore, whoever produces such cards  might eventually be given the
most clear, concrete token of ones identity i.e. the MNIC card or the
UID card. Then one can only imagine what sort of a grand exercise
Nandan Nilekani Saheb and his team is going to engage in.

Why do we need to spend all of 1.5 Lakh crore rupees for one more
round of this seemingly genuine exercise  in futility?

Warm regards

Taha


http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090614/main7.htm

Sania belongs to BPL family!

Hyderabad, June 13
Tennis star Sania Mirza may be a millionaire but her face appears on a
ration card belonging to a below poverty line (BPL) family in Andhra
Pradesh.

The white ration card, which makes a family eligible to get rice at a
highly-subsidised price of Rs 2-a-kg and social security benefits
health insurance and a permanent housing, has been issued to one Laxmi
of Vizianagaram district with a photograph of Sania.

The revelation of the case has invited the wrath of Chief Minister Y S
Rajasekhara Reddy who reviewed the social security schemes at a
high-level meeting here today, sources in the CMO said.

This only showed how blindly the ration cards were issued without any
proper verification, the Chief Minister reportedly fumed at officials
of the Civil Supplies Department. While the state population is about
8.3 crore, the population figure, as per the number of ration cards
issued, crossed 9.8 crore.

The Chief Minister himself revealed in the state Assembly three days
ago that there were as many as 2.15 crore white ration cards, making
those families eligible to draw subsidised rice and avail of other
welfare schemes. — PTI
- Hide quoted text -


On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 12:59 PM, Pawan Durani<pawan.durani at gmail.com>
wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8118113.stm
>
> Sania Mirza 'below poverty line'
>
> By Omer Farooq in Hyderabad
>
>
> Sania Mirza is ranked 85 in world women's tennis
> Indian tennis star Sania Mirza lives below the poverty line, if
> government records in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh are to
> believed.
> A special ration card for poor people carrying Mirza's name and
> photograph has been recovered during investigations, officials say.
> The card issued in Vizianagaram district also mentions a local
> 20-year-old man as her husband.
> Mirza, who is one of the top ranking players, is unmarried.
> The 22-year-old player, ranked 85 in the world, crashed out of
> Wimbledon in the second round on Wednesday.
> The BPL (Below Poverty Line) ration cards entitles beneficiaries to
> cheap rice at two rupees (less than 5 cents) a kilogramme, a pension,
> housing and free health insurance.
> Bogus cards
> The fraudulent card carrying Mirza's name and photograph was issued in
> the Vepadu village in Vizianagaram state by the revenue department.
> Mirza, who is one of India's richest sportspeople, lives in an
> up-market neighbourhood in the state capital, Hyderabad.
>
> The one-per-household BPL cards are only supposed to be issued after
> married couples personally appear before the authorities and have
> their pictures taken together in a single picture frame.
> But in this case, the ration card carried two separate pictures of
> Mirza and someone called "Mr Narayana" in contravention of the law.
> In this case it appears that the holder of the card may have been
> single and put the tennis star's name and photograph alongside his -
> claiming her to be his wife.
> An angry Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy has ordered an
> investigation into the matter.
> "Find out whether the officer who issued this card in the name of
> Sania Mirza is a mad man. How can any one can do it? It is height of
> negligence," he told his officers.
> The government now says an estimated 4.5 million such bogus ration
> cards in the state should be weeded out during the drive to be
> launched from next month.
> Other bogus cards show photographs of beneficiaries travelling in a
> Skoda car and a train.
> The drive will also target ration shop dealers who also use the bogus
> cards to siphon the cheap rice and sell it at a higher price in open
> market.
> Nearly 24 million ration cards are in circulation in Andhra Pradesh,
> which has only 19 million households. That means that over four
> million cards in the state are bogus.
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