Firm accused of charging money for Pehchan card
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 02 2022:
While alleging that a company named M/S Karvy Data Management Services Limited has been charging money from weavers for making Pehchan card, which is given by the government free of cost, Sintha Handloom and Handicrafts advised the company to stop charging money and asked the government to clarify on the matter.
Sintha president S Bhubol informed that Hyderabad-based M/S Karvy, assigned to conduct survey on number of weavers in Manipur under the 4th All India Handloom Census 2017, has been making Pehchan cards for weavers under the directive of Office of the Development Commissioner for Handloom, Ministry of Textiles.
Even as the company failed to distribute Pehchan cards regularly, some operators of vendors claiming to be under M/S Karvy charged Rs 100 from those weavers who received the Pehchan cards.
Bhubol also pointed out that out the estimated 4 lakh weavers in Manipur, M/S Karvy submitted report that there are only 2.44 lakh weavers.
As such, he suggested that authorities concerned look into the inconveniences faced by weavers who were left out from the census.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Development for Handlooms, has informed all handloom weavers arid allied workers in Manipur that the Pehchan cards should be availed free of cost only through the 'Weavers Pehchan Card Distribution Camps' being conducted by Weavers' Service Centre Imphal in different parts of the state.
It said that the M/S Karvy Data Management Service Ltd, which was assigned for conducting necessary enumeration & printing of cards, has already been directed by the office of the DC Handlooms, New Delhi to handover left-out printing cards to the nearest Weavers' Service Centres for necessary distribution consequent upon the termination of the contract.
It also clarified that the distribution of cards by vendors of M/S Karvy in different parts of the state charging Rs 100 per card at their own level is illegal and not related at all with Weavers' Service Centre.
Neither M/S Karvy nor its vendors are authorised to distribute Pehchan cards to handloom workers.
Necessary action is being taken up by the authority to declare all the left out Pehchan cards with M/S karvy Data Management Service Ltd.
as invalid, the release added.