AP government did not print the Jesus photo on the official ration cards. Those are unofficial cards printed by a local ration dealer - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 11, 2019
A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that the photo of Jesus is printed on the ration cards issued in Andhra Pradesh. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Jesus photo printed on the Andhra Pradesh ration cards.
Fact: The card in the photo is not the Government’s ration card, it is a card printed by the local ration dealer to note the ration products given to the consumer. A ration dealer in the Vadlamuru village of Andhra Pradesh has printed the photo of Jesus on the cards sold to the customers for noting the ration products taken. The same ration dealer has printed the photos of Hindu gods previously but printed Jesus photo this year. So, it is not the state government which printed the Jesus photo and it is not on the official ration card. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When searched on Google about the issue, a video uploaded by ‘ABN Telugu’ on YouTube was found in the search results. In the video, it can be found that the card in the photo is not the official ration card given by the government. The card was printed by a local ration dealer in the Vadlamuru village of Andhra Pradesh to take note the ration products given to the consumer. He sells those cards to the customers for 5 rupees. Talking to ‘ABN- Andhrajyothy’, Satya Sai ram (the husband of the ration dealer) told that they print these cards every year with the photo of a god and they are not the cards given by the government. He also said that in the previous years they printed the cards with the photos of Hindu gods and this year, they printed the card with the photo of Jesus.
In 2016, 2017, and 2018, the dealer has printed the cards with the photos of Hindu gods. A collage containing the cards printed by the dealer in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 can be found in the ‘India Today’ article.
A sample photo of the ration card issued last year by the Andhra Pradesh government can be found in the ‘Sakshi’ article.
So, it is not the state government which printed the Jesus photo and it was not on the official ration card. Reacting to the controversy, the Andhra Pradesh government has responded saying that the ration dealer is a supporter of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and he purposefully printed the photo of Jesus to promote the propaganda against the government.
According to an article in the ‘Andhrajyothy’, a Civil Supplies Department Official has said, after the photo went viral, that ration dealers should not give any other paper cards along with the officially issued ration cards. He said that necessary action will be taken on the ration dealers who sell those cards.
To sum it up, the Andhra Pradesh government did not print the Jesus photo on the ration cards. Those are unofficial cards printed by a local ration dealer.
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