Hyderabad: With over 2.5 lakh applications piling up, the Telangana Civil Supplies Department will begin distributing new ration cards across Greater Hyderabad on July 14. Officials have cleared 29,487 beneficiaries in nine city circles for the first phase.
District Civil Supplies Officer Srinivas confirmed that only fully verified applications will be included in the July 14 rollout. “Verification, approval and distribution is a continuous process,” he said, adding that approved cardholders will begin receiving supplies from September.
Distribution will also cover parts of Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. Despite the rush, officials said the backlog continues to grow as thousands apply daily through MeeSeva centres following the government’s open application policy.
Each application undergoes a three-step scrutiny—Assistant Supply Officers (ASOs) screen and forward them to Revenue Division Officers (RDOs), who then verify details on the ground. These are escalated to the Chief Rationing Officer for final approval.
Officials say only 10% of the city’s 2.5 lakh applications have cleared verification due to manpower shortages. Hyderabad currently has 6.39 lakh active ration cards, and the department projects adding over a lakh more this year.
With verification work delayed, the department has written to GHMC and the Revenue Department to spare additional staff. Reinforcements are expected by the end of July, after which officials hope to accelerate the verification process.
No new ration deliveries will be made in the next two months, allowing officials to focus exclusively on pending applications.
