LPG CONNECTION CONFUSION DEPARTMENT MADE ERRORS

BANGALORE: The food and civil supplies department's move to weed out illegal ration cards/ LPG
connections has been disastrous. Bangaloreans are fuming over their LPG connections being suspended
for no fault of theirs. B A Harish Gowda, secretary, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department,
admits there were errors during data entry which has caused all the confusion. Excerpts:

Why penalize consumers for your department's mistakes?
I agree that some citizens have been put to hardship .We regret that. The objective is not to penalise consumers. But we have cases of even senior government officials having four connections. These are
used for domestic purposes as well as for their cars. How do we justify that? I admit there have been errors.

Who is responsible for the mess?
There were errors in feeding data from consumers. Of the total 75 lakh connections across the state,we
have suspended only 5% because their RR numbers are not showing up in our database. It is not fair to
consumers, I am conscious of it. But then there is no other way for us to weed out illegal connections. We
have to get the entire consumer data base and then sort this out.

If there was a mistake at the data entry level, why suspend LPG connections? Why not take action against your staff?
We are at it. But then there were lakhs of data entry operators who did this job. Who do I nab ? There
are cases where two RR numbers were entered against one LPG connection.We are doing a re- entry
of all the data now. We know the genuine consumers will come and re- check their connections. It is
those with multiple connections who are angry with this move and not genuine consumers.

Why is there utter confusion even at gas agencies?
Consumers are being turned away when they go there for rectifying the errors. We do not want a repeat of this confusion. So we have made it clear that consumers whose connections have been suspended should either upload the documents on our website or visit the nearest deputy director of food and civil supplies .
The addresses of these offices are on our website.We have set up counters at these offices where the
mistakes will be rectified immediately. Going to the gas agency will not help.

How will you address consumers' fear of losing LPG connection?
We will not disconnect until we are convinced that it is indeed illegal. We will re -look at all the data that
has been submitted. I have directed officers not to be harsh as the department has erred in data entry. We will clear all the uploaded documents in the next three days .

Why initiate an exercise which is causing so much inconvenience?
Back in 2006 the department signed an agreement with a private company to ready an online database of all ration cards . By 2010, the numbers jumped to 1. 65 crore while the number of BPL families remained the same. It was a money-spinning exercise. The government ordered a probe. We had to weed out bogus connections to ensure that our genuine consumers were not put to hardship.

DO THIS
Visit http://ahara.kar.nic.in/ and upload your electricity bill with RR number. gas agency bill with consumer number. If you have a ration card, then upload that too.
Visit your nearest deputy director of food and civil supplies offices and rectify the mistake in the department's data

SEE ALSO:
HOW TO VERIFY YOUR LPG AND RATION CARD STATUS AND UPDATE RR NUMBER ETC. AT KARNATAKA (BANGALORE)
YOU GET 15 MORE DAYS TO SUBMIT LPG DOCUMENTS

RATION CARD AND LPG STATUS NOTIFICATION GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA
DEPUTY DIRECTORS, FOOD AND CIVIL SUPPLIES AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, KARNATAKA (BANGALORE)

HOW DO I GET NEW RATION CARD IN BANGALORE

HOW DO I GET RATION CARD
HOW DO I GET A NEW LPG GAS CONNECTION