Cancellation of ration card due to non-seeding with Aadhaar

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National, 05 February 2021: As per the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) Control Order, 2015 the review of ration cards/beneficiaries list, identification of bogus/ineligible/ duplicate ration cards, and inclusion of genuine eligible beneficiaries/households is the role of concerned State/UT  Government. Under TPDS reforms States/UTs collectively have reported the cancellation of about 2.06 Crore ineligible/duplicate/bogus ration cards since 2017 due to various reasons such as deduplication/bogus/migration/death or other reasons. In this regard, States/UTs have been advised to undertake proper verification (including field verification) of each identified case to ensure that ration cards of genuine beneficiaries are not deleted/ suspended. Further, States/UTs are regularly issuing new ration cards to the genuinely eligible households/beneficiaries in place of canceled ration cards under the ceiling limit of the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Presently, Department is allocating foodgrains of about 80 Cr. Beneficiary under NFSA.

A grievance redressal mechanism under NFSA comprising of District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO) and Independent State Food Commission (SFC) at different levels are available in all States/UTs for the beneficiaries to register their complaints and grievances. Besides, an online grievance redressal mechanism/toll-free helpline (1967/1800-series) is also available in all States/UTs.

 

It is stated that the NFSA provides for use of Aadhaar for the unique identification of beneficiaries at the time of lifting of foodgrains for better targeting of food subsidy. Further, the Department under the Section-7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 has issued the Notification vide SO No. 371[E] dated 8/2/2017 [as amended from time to time]. However, as per the latest amendment, the timeline given to States/UTs for linking of Aadhaar with all ration cards has been extended up to 31/03/2021. Until then clear instructions have been issued to all States/UTs that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible households and shall not be denied from their entitled quota of foodgrains under NFSA, on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number, failure of biometric authentication due to network/ connectivity/ linking issues or any other technical reasons, etc.

 

Statement showing State/UT-wise and year-wise number of deleted ration cards since 2017:

Sl. States/UTs 2017 2018 2019 2020
1 Andhra Pradesh            5,449
2 Andaman & Nicobar                    6 47 421 431
3 Arunachal Pradesh                  56
4 Assam          42,077 1,35,250 22,412 12,395
5 Bihar                   –
6 Chandigarh                  88
7 Chhattisgarh        150,000 56,000 1,40,000
8 DNH and Daman & Diu                272 4,898 577 3,531
9 Delhi            3,969 2,56,987 381 518
10 Goa            6,146 1,130 888 639
11 Gujarat          18,965 95,659
12 Haryana          29,686 2,91,926
13 Himachal Pradesh                172 56,858 367 2,210
14 Jammu and Kashmir                664 3,428 13,869 13,224
15 Jharkhand        359,793 82,394 60,333 65,234
16 Karnataka        326,382 73,675 1,09,312 45,203
17 Kerala                   – 3,314 2,543 39,542
18 Ladakh  NA NA
19 Lakshadweep                   –
20 Madhya Pradesh        184,673 1,27,441 61,265 1,65,829
21 Maharashtra                   – 12,81,922 653,677 1,02,348
22 Manipur                336
23 Meghalaya                   – 2,568 10,525 16
24 Mizoram                559 107 156 1,743
25 Nagaland            8,521 7,723 18,552 7,304
26 Odisha          35,740
27 Puducherry            3,290 3,533 2,093 621
28 Punjab          69,945 34,972 94,031 1,58,471
29 Rajasthan          73,110 8,016 72,276 2,18,832
30 Sikkim            1,126 3,377 5,622 6,981
31 Tamil Nadu            9,089
32 Telangana          41,194 3,101 40,684 12,154
33 Tripura                   – 18,874 552 903
34 Uttar Pradesh     4,441,748 43,72,491 41,52,273 8,54,025
35 Uttarakhand        318,718 1,26,268
36 West Bengal                   – 88,593 1,00,151 59,666
  Total 61,31,774 71,40,552 55,62,960 17,71,820

This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao in Rajya Sabha today.