PUNE: Stone quarry worker Pralhad Vithkar's struggles to get free rations from the fair price shop have never been successful for more than four years.
Decades of breaking stones have taken a toll on the 68-year-old's frail body right down to his fingerprints that have faded away, and the local ration shop will not give him his quota since the scanners with government-authorized ration shops cannot complete his biometric authentication.
Ration shop owners have to carry out the biometric procedure with help from the tehsil supplies office which distributes grain. The scanners store the biometrics data. In Vithkar's case, since there are no fingerprints, so no data is stored.
All ration seekers have to record their biometrics and then go to the fair price shop every month to get their supplies. Vithkar's family of six has been allotted the saffron ration card on which he is entitled to free grain of two kg wheat and three kg rice, per person. But he buys them from the market.
"When I went to the ration shop at first, my biometric procedure could not be completed. They told me my fingerprints had worn out.
Wagholi stone quarry workers get no rations Vithkar said he has been going every month to see if the scanner can record his fingerprints, but in vain. "The shop owner does not give me my rations, and I come home disheartened. I do not know what to do and whom to approach," he added.
No member of his family is able to get the biometrics done since all their fingerprints have faded.
Vithkar, who migrated to Wagholi from his village in drought-prone Beed two decades ago in search of work, said he needed the free rations to support his family. "My wife has been bedridden for the last few years. I work in the quarry every day. I earn between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per month. Of this, I spend Rs 3,000 on buying grain in the open market," he said.
Like Vithkar, at least 300 stone quarry workers face the same problem with fingerprints. Gorakhnath Phulare (75) said his family of five can get 25kg rations from the fair price shop every month. "They are free and provided by the government. If only we could get them, it would be a big relief," he added.
During the Covid pandemic, the central government had launched Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana under National Food Security Act to provide 5kg free grain per month. These benefits too did not come their way because of the biometrics, some said.
"It was extremely difficult. We had no money to buy grain and were staring at hunger. Some NGOs brought us food. Rations at that time would have been the biggest help from the government," stone breaker Sahanu Shaikh said.
Shakuntala Lashkare (40), another quarry worker, said the government should look at their plight and rectify the situation immediately.
Bastu Rege, an activist from Wagholi, has taken up the biometrics matter with the district administration in the past but nothing came of it. Tehsildar Kiran Survase told TOI, "We will look into the matter. Our officials will provide all necessary help to them."
A senior official from the district administration said, "The supplies office in the tehsil should conduct a special drive for these workers and update their biometric records in their system. Only then can these workers get their quota of rations."
Divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao told TOI that he will take up the matter with the officials,and resolve the problem at the earliest.
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