Since the start of 2017-18 till the beginning of the current fiscal year, more than 4.5 lakh people have applied for ration cards inKarnataka. Although officials have cleared nearly 60% of these applications 2.7 lakh none has been issued yet, infuriating applicants. The delay in issuance of a ration card has only added to the already long list of problems of the underprivileged.
The department of food and civil supplies was to begin issuance of ration cards to applicants, the credentials of whom had been examined and verified, in August 2021. But the second wave of the pandemic delayed the process.