AGONISING WAIT: A student seeking white ration card at Prakasam Bhavan at Ongole on Tuesday. — Photo: Sreenivas Kommuri

ONGOLE: Two poor students belonging to weaker sections find it difficult to continue their education, thanks to the bungling of Civil Supplies officials in issuing ration cards to their families.

As their families were denied white ration cards, they fear that they would be denied scholarship. They have to get back their white card before next academic year or discontinue their education, they say.

Dattatreya, a yadava by caste, is studying second year B.A in KRK Government College at Addanki. As his father is too old, his mother works as agricultural labourer to support the family. The family has no land and lives in a thatched house. Dattatreya buys vegetables at Addanki and sells them in his village to augment family income.

Yet Civil Supplies officials felt that his family lived above the poverty line and denied white card to it. This would deny him scholarship of Rs. 2,100 per year and force him to discontinue education, he said.

In another case, Talluri Narasimha Rao, who passed B.Sc, yearns to join post-graduate course. But his dreams were dashed now as his family got only pink card. His father died and his mother works as agricultural labourer. The family has 1.25 acres of dry land and lives in a thatched house. But Civil Supplies officials felt that it was living above the poverty line and changed the ration card from white to pink.

Mr Narasimha Rao pointed out that he would be denied scholarship and also he would be required to pay tuition fee on a par with general students. As it would be impossible for him, he had to give up his ambition of higher education and seek some job now, he said.

Many aggrieved

Both Dattatreya and Narasimha Rao joined 70 villagers, who are aggrieved by denial of white card in Umamaheswarapuram of Mundlamur mandal.

They hired a lorry and came to Ongole to bring their problem to the notice of the District Collector, the Joint Collector or the District Revenue Officer at 10 am on Monday.

As none of the officials was available till 5 pm on Tuesday, they returned home disappointed.

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