A new service in the basket, Umri Panchyat, Madhya Pradesh
This is the story about an intervention by a Soochna Seva team that simplified the efforts of the innocent and unaware villagers of Meriyakhedi Khurd in Madhya Pradesh in acquiring their daily bread. A public distribution shop, also known as fair price shop (FPS), is a part of India’s public distribution system established by Government of India which distributes rations at a subsidized price to the poor. Locally these are known as “ration shops”. The process of getting ration from the ration dealer had left the village residents frustrated due to absence of relevant documents.
The Soochna Sevak (fellow of Soochna Seva Kendra) Padam Bheel was sitting in his portico when the desperate village residents came up to him and said “Sir, this time the ration dealer will probably not distribute ration to us.” Surprised, Bheel enquired “But why, what happened? Tell me in detail.”
The integration of POS machines in the PDS shops requires replacement of existing ration cards, with e-ration cards by verifying certain documents such as ration card verification receipt, aadhaar card, voter ID or bank passbook. Therefore, the ration dealer had refused to distribute ration in the absence of such documents. However, some of the villagers didn’t have ration card, some didn’t have the aadhaar card and somebody else had lost his passbook. The villagers had to face a lot of challenges due to this. After listening to the villagers, Soochna Sevaks Bheel and Babulaal invited them to the local Soochna Seva Kendra and assured them that their visit would prove very beneficial for them in more than one way.
Some of the villagers like Unkaar Singh, Phool Singh Bheel and Netaji then thought that there is no harm in trying this, and so they decided to pay a visit to the local Soochna Seva Kendra. There, they told the Sevaks, “Sir, in Binaganj tehsil, they charge five rupees for a two–sided Photostat copy. So, what will you charge?” The Soochna Sevak smiled and gladly informed the innocent villagers, “Dada, you will be happy to know that here at our Soochna Seva Kendra, we only charge two rupees for the same service. Soochna Seva issued in public interest.” The villagers were surprised.
Then Rodu Lal Bheel, a villager, sadly told the Sevaks, “Sir, I went all the way to Binaganj to get my daughter’s aadhaar card issued. I completed all the required formalities and processes but it’s been four months and I haven’t received the Aadhaar card yet.” He handed the receipt of aadhaar card registration to the Sevaks and requested them to check its status on the Internet. Manish Suman, the Fellow, tracked the status only to be disappointed as the status was pending. The sad villager said, “What am I supposed to do now? It takes a lot of money to commute from my place to such centres and yet I don’t see any results”
Soochna Sevak Padam Bheel smiled and offered help, “Let me help you this time. You might finally get the aadhar card.”
This is just one example of how Soochna Sevaks help villagers who’re living in remote villages, untouched by the new age technologies.
The Sevaks also keep a hard copy of the aadhaar registration receipts for records. Often, villagers lose or misplace their receipts, or it is ruined during laundry or for other reasons. At such a time, they get a sigh of relief as original records are maintained at the Soochna Seva Kendra!
The two Soochna Sevaks then checked the receipts of around 30 to 40 beneficiaries who had registered for aadhaar cards through this Kendra. They instantly downloaded from the Internet the aadhaar cards of those beneficiaries whose receipts were present. Like a flower, the faces of those villagers bloomed and the fellows experienced great satisfaction as if their penance had met success.
The delighted innocent villagers told the Soochna Sevaks that they would now be able to get the ration from the dealer easily. “You simplified our toil for the daily bread sir. Now we will get our two meals,” they said.
The next day, the happy villagers of Meriyakhedi Khurd turned up in great numbers at the Neshkala ration control room and handed over the documents to the ration dealer who gave them their food supply. This was all due to the unconditional help extended by the Soochna Seva team and the co-operation of the villagers! The villagers, filled with gratitude, blessed the Soochna Sevaks and admired the team’s effort in reaching out to the villagers and helping them.
Related posts
