Fake Ration Card Update: Be it the Covid pandemic or after it, people have benefited greatly from the free ration provided by the government on ration cards. But some people have also misused it. Now the government has taken major action against all those fake ration card holders. According to the information given by the Union Food Ministry, 5.8 crore ration cards have been found to be fake across the country through card verification.
According to information received from the ministry, many changes have been made in the Public Distribution System (PDS). All ration cards have been digitized. The ministry said that for verification of ration cards, along with matching with Aadhaar card, the process of KYC i.e. customer identification has also been followed.
Benefits of digitalization of public distribution system
The government has said that digitalizing the Public Distribution System (PDS) will help in removing fake cardholders. In a statement given by the ministry, it was said that as part of the reform in the PDS system providing services to 80.6 crore beneficiaries, 5.8 crore fake ration cards will be removed through verification through Aadhaar and electronic e-KYC system.
The ministry statement said that due to these efforts, irregularities in the distribution system have reduced to a great extent. According to the information, almost all 20.4 crore ration cards have been digital. Of these, 99.8 percent are linked to Aadhaar and the identity of 98.7 percent of the beneficiaries has been verified through biometrics.
98 percent of the grains are being distributed through Aadhar
According to the information given by the Union Food Ministry, e-POS devices have been installed at Public Distribution System (PDS) shops across the country, through which beneficiaries are being verified at the time of grain distribution. This system has been started to ensure that the right person gets ration. The ministry said, ‘Today about 98 percent of the total food grains are being distributed through Aadhaar verification.’ The government believes that this has helped a lot in removing fake people from the system.
Only 64 percent ration cards have been verified.
The process of removing fake ration card holders through Aadhar card in the ration system has not been completed. Only 64 percent cards have been verified through e-KYC. The work of verification of cards of the remaining beneficiaries is still going on. There is a possibility that there may be some more fake ration cards. The number of fake ration cards may increase further till the verification is completed.
Regarding timely supply of food grains, the government ministry has said that Food Corporation of India (FCI) has implemented supply management system to send food grains to the right place, in which vehicles integrated with railways for real-time monitoring of food grain supply. Monitoring system also included. The ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme has made ‘portability’ of ration cards possible across the country.
