Under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), the inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries is the responsibility of the respective State/UT Governments


The States/UTs report cancellation of about 4.28 Crore ration cards during the period 2014 to 2021 due to various irregularities

Presently, around 90% of monthly foodgrains allocated by the Department are distributed by the States/UTs through ePoS transactions

DELHI  : 23 MAR 2022 

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), inter-alia the inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries is the responsibility of the respective State/UT Governments. Further, inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries under NFSA is an ongoing process as per the eligibility criteria evolved by the States/UTs. Accordingly, leveraging the implementation of information technology for Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) reforms under NFSA, digitization of ration cards/beneficiaries’ data, de-duplication process, permanent migration, deaths, identification of ineligible/duplicate/fake ration cards, etc. the States/UTs so far have reported cancellation of about 4.28 Crore ration cards during the period 2014 to 2021. However, linking or non-linking of Aadhaar with ration cards is not a criterion for deletion/cancellation of ration cards under NFSA. A statement showing State/UT wise, and year wise number of ration cards deleted by States/UTs during 2014 to 2021 is at Annexure.

 

To ensure all NFSA beneficiaries are in receipt of their monthly foodgrains in full quantities as per the entitlements of their Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH) ration cards, all States/UT have been advised vide time to time letters, meetings and video conferences to ensure the distribution of foodgrains at FPSs through transparent electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) device transactions, along with biometric authentication of beneficiaries and provide ePoS printed transaction receipts to all beneficiaries in local/bilingual languages.

 

Under the Notification dated 08/02/2017 (as amended from time to time), issued by the Department pursuant to Section-7 of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the timeline given to all States/UTs for linking of Aadhaar numbers of beneficiaries with their ration cards has been extended up to 31/03/2022. Until then, as per the extant instructions of the Department vide letters dated 24/10/2017 and 08/11/2018, States/UTs have been advised that no genuine NFSA beneficiary/household shall be denied from receiving their entitled quota of subsidized foodgrains only for want of Aadhaar; or due to failure of biometric/Aadhaar authentication due to network/ connectivity/ linking related issues, poor biometrics of the beneficiary or any other technical reasons.

 

States/UTs were also advised to integrate electronic weighing machines/scales with ePoS devices at all FPSs to ensure correct and transparent weighment of foodgrains by FPS dealers at the time of distribution. Presently, around 90% of monthly foodgrains allocated by the Department are distributed by the States/UTs through ePoS transactions.

 

Statement showing State/UT wise, and year wise number of ration cards deleted by States/UTs during 2014 to 2021:

 

Sl. State/UT 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Total
1 Andhra Pradesh 5,45,987 1,29,202 4,75,023 5,449 15,209 12,762 24,523 13,128 12,21,283
2 Andaman & Nicobar  – 37 7 6 47 421 431 – 949
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1,059 115 4,396 56  –  –  – – 5,626
4 Assam  –  – 1,08,681 42,077 1,35,250 22,412 21,291 11,120 3,40,831
5 Bihar 21,712 16,401 6,291  – 2,18,051 3,92,713 99,404 – 7,54,572
6 Chandigarh  –  –  – 88  –  –  – – 88
7 Chhattisgarh 7,10,000 1,43,000 1,50,000 1,50,000 56,834 1,38,967 4,508 4,368 13,57,677
8 DNH and Daman Diu  – 262 650 272 4,898 577 5,840 1,410 13,909
9 Delhi  – 38,496 22,696 3,969 2,56,987 381 518 – 3,23,047
10 Goa 93 1,45,471 10,115 6,146 1,130 888 148 59 1,64,050
11 Gujarat 64,079 45,833 22,119 18,965 95,659 23,038 47,936 11,958 3,29,587
12 Haryana 22,903 43,515 19,648 29,686 2,91,926  –  – – 4,07,678
13 Himachal Pradesh 235  – 1,148 172 56,858 367 4,376 2,538 65,694
14 Jammu and Kashmir 640 3,325 50,709 664 3,428 13,869 13,224  NIL 85,859
15 Jharkhand 19 7,914 4,46,025 3,59,793 82,394 60,333 65,234 – 10,21,712
16 Karnataka 6,64,755 7,61,326 1,44,432 3,26,382 73,675 1,09,312 31,753 42,558 21,54,193
17 Kerala 57  –  –  – 3,314 2,543 52,475 1,04,511 1,62,900
18 Ladakh  NA  NA  NA  NA  NA  NIL  NIL 614 614
19 Lakshadweep 76 872 442  – 5 6 7 33 1,441
20 Madhya Pradesh 1,313  – 3,89,124 1,84,673 1,27,441 61,265 1,65,829 14,24,115 23,53,760
21 Maharashtra 85,160 8,20,780 11,55,908  – 12,81,922 6,53,677 1,31,986 36,119 41,65,552
22 Manipur  –  –  – 336  –  – 45,321 15,541 61,198
23 Meghalaya  –  –  –  – 2,568 10,525 16 – 13,109
24 Mizoram 47 53 101 559 107 156 1,443 1,637 4,103
25 Nagaland 3,247  –  – 8,521 7,723 18,552 7,304 – 45,347
26 Odisha  –  – 6,50,471 35,740  –  –  – – 6,86,211
27 Puducherry 10,629 56,121 9,886 3,290 3,533 2,093 1,881 1,731 89,164
28 Punjab 93,267  –  – 69,945 34,972 94,031 1,79,837 3,305 4,75,357
29 Rajasthan  – 26,329 13,71,230 73,110 8,016 72,276 5,80,241 1,35,283 22,66,485
30 Sikkim  –  – 11,714 1,126 3,377 5,622 6,981 – 28,820
31 Tamil Nadu 96,406 1,14,175 84,470 9,089  –  –  – – 3,04,140
32 Telangana 11,71,354 83,048 5,21,790 41,194 3,101 40,684 12,154  NIL 18,73,325
33 Tripura 11,814 66,236 92,728  – 18,874 552 1,099 490 1,91,793
34 Uttar Pradesh 19,117 2,33,847 25,86,541 44,41,748 43,72,491 41,52,273 8,54,025 4,15,259 1,70,75,301
35 Uttarakhand  – 1,11,367 89,984 3,18,718 1,26,268  –  – – 6,46,337
36 West Bengal 16,77,311 21,84,152  –  – 88,593 1,00,151 59,666 – 41,09,873
  Total 52,01,280 50,31,877 84,26,329 61,31,774 73,74,651 59,90,446 24,19,451 22,25,777 4,28,01,585

READ  MORE :-  Bihar has huge potential under the ODOP programme to contribute to India’s rising exports – Shri Piyush Goyal

 

Spread the love

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR