Lok Sabha Question No. 3530 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-10
Subject: Non-Seeding of Ration Cards with Aadhar
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MTNISTRY OF GONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD &  pUBLtC  DTSTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIG DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION ilO. 3530 TO BE AI{SWERED ON {OrH AUGUST,  2O2'

## NOiI-SEEDING  OF RATION CARDS WITH AADHAR

## 3530. SHRI RITESH PANDEY:

Wil! the Minister of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS, FOOD Al{D PUBLIC DISTRIBUTTON  sqsr}ffr Hr{e, sr{q sik Trf,dfrd, fufl{ur t'+ be pleased to state:

- (a)  the ration cards cancelled yearly due to nonseeding with Aadhaar
- since 2O{7;
- (b)  whether the Government has a procedure in place to ensure that cancelled ration cards dontt belong to genuine beneficiaries,  if so, the
- details thereof and if not, the reasons thereforl
- (c) whether there is any remedy available to a genuine beneficiary whose ration card has been cancelled due to non-seeding with Aadhaar, if
- so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons  therefo4  and
- (d)  the total number of ration cards cancelled which were reinstated
- after it was found that cancellation was incorrect since 2O{7, State-wise and year-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR MIiIISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMET{T AND GoNSUMER AFFAIRS,  FOOD &  pUBLtc  DTSTRTBUTION (sADlrvr  ilTRANJAN  JYOTT)

(a) & (b): At present, the timeline  given  to States/UTs for linking of Aadhaar numberc of beneficiaries  with their ration cards under the Notification of this Department dated O8lO2l2O{  7 (as amended from time to time)has been extended up to 3OlOgl2O21.  Until then, as per extant instructions of  this Department,  vide letters daleil 2411l,12O17 and Og/r112018,  all States/UTs are advised that no ration card / beneficiary shall be  deleted only for  want of  Aadhaar and  no  genuine beneficiary/household  shal! be denied from receiving  their entitled quota of subsidised  foodgrains for not possessing an Aadhaar number or failure of biometric/Aadhaar  authentication due to network/ connectivity/ Iinking related  issues, poor biometrics of the beneficiary  or any other technical reasons.

However, under TpDS which is governed  by the provisions  of the National Food security Act, 2or3 (NFsa), the addition and deretion of ration cards /  beneficiaries  is a cbntinuous process  and statesi/urs regularly review their lists to identifyr and weed out inerigibte  ration cards and to inctude  other left ost and genuinely etigible households/beneficiaries  under NFSA, up to their respective  ceiring rimits of population  coverage under the Act. This activity is assisted  ty tte use of technology in TpDS operations i.e. de-duprication  due to digitization of ration cards data, Aadhaar seeding, detection  of ineligibte, dupticate, bogus ration cards, migration,  death of beneficiaries,  etc. The states/UTs follow their  own  procedures  to veriflr the  eligibility  of the suspected/identified  cases before  taking appropriate  action. Accordingty, as per  the information avaitabte about 6{.3 Lakhr z1.4 Lakh, 55.6 Lakh and 17.7 Lakh ration cards have been eancefled by states/urs  during 2o{7, 2O18r 2O1g and 2O2O respectivety.

- (c) & (d): The TPDS under NFSA, is operated  in joint responsibilities  of the Gentral and state/ur Governments,  wherein,inter.atia  ihe operationar responsibilities  pertaining  to the inclusion  and exctusion  of beneficiaries under NFSA and grievance redressal  of beneficiaries rests with the respective  state/ur Government.  Accordipgry, the states/urs  have been advised  to under{ake -proper  verification, which, may arso inctude fietd verification  of each identified/suspected  case to ensure that ration cards of  genuine  beneficiaries are not deleted/ suspended. However, a grievance  redressar mechanism under NFSA comprising of  District crievance Redressar  officer (DGRo) and rndependent  state Food Gommission  (sFc) at different revers  are avaitabte in ail states/urs  for the beneficiaries  to register their compraints  and,. grievalces..  Besides, the beneficiaries can also .make use of the ontine grievance  redressat mechanism and  toll-free hetpline numbars to register their complaints/grievanees  with .coneerned  State/UT Government.

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