Panchkula, July 8 — Hundreds of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in Panchkula have been denied access to free ration after their digital records under the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) system erroneously categorized them as affluent, triggering widespread hardship and protest.
The glitch-ridden digital governance platform, intended to streamline welfare distribution, has instead blocked genuine beneficiaries from receiving their entitled food supplies. Since June, scores of affected families have been making daily rounds to the additional deputy commissioner’s (ADC) office, pleading for corrections in their records.
Their grievances range from being falsely shown as owners of four-wheelers, to inflated electricity bills and incorrect educational details of their children. Under Haryana’s BPL eligibility norms, families with an annual income above ₹1.80 lakh or ownership of a four-wheeler are excluded from welfare benefits. However, several residents say they don’t even own two-wheelers.
“We don’t even have a cycle, and yet the records show us owning a car,” said Vishnu Lal, a 69-year-old cancer survivor from Indira Colony. “My son has TB. We’ve been without ration for two months.” A car mistakenly linked to his name has rendered the family ineligible under the system.
Amrita, a physically disabled woman, shared a similar ordeal, saying her family’s food access has been disrupted due to inaccurate PPP data. Another resident, Kavita, reported that her son’s school details were wrongly entered, and her record was tagged with someone else’s electricity bill showing dues in lakhs.
Acknowledging the issue, ADC Nisha Yadav admitted that there was a “mismatch in the system” and attributed the problem to the citizen resource information department (CRID) not receiving necessary APIs from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. This technical gap has obstructed real-time data syncing and corrections.
“We understand the urgency and are working to resolve the issue within two weeks,” Yadav said, urging families to remain patient as the matter is being taken up with higher authorities.
The issue escalated on Monday when several residents from Indira Colony and Rajeev Colony gathered outside Ward 7 councillor Usha Rani’s residence demanding immediate action. “This is a denial of the basic right to food,” Rani said, urging the administration to fast-track corrections.
Her husband, Ram Prasad, added, “Every day, we see queues outside government offices. Hundreds of families are in distress, but the system won’t budge.”
The crisis exposes a growing disconnect between digital governance initiatives and ground realities, leaving the most vulnerable citizens to bear the brunt of technical lapses.
