Lok Sabha Question No. 2849 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-17
Subject: e-KYC Verification of PDS
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Baijayant Panda

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2849 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17TFI DECEMBER, 2025

## E-KYC VERIFICATION  OF PDS

## 2849. SHRI BAIJAYANT  PANDA:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER  AFFAIRS.  FOOD  AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a): the number of Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries who have completed their  e-KYC  verification, State-wise;
- (b): the measures taken by the Government to ensure that beneficiaries particularly in rural  and tribal  areas are able  to  complete their  e-KYC  for  continued access to  PDS entitlements;
- (c): whether the Government is undertaking awareness programmes to  motivate and facilitate  more PDS beneficiaries to  register their  e-KYC and if  so, the details thereof; and
- (d): whether the Government is planning any additional policy  interventions to  curb wrongful inclusion or fraudulent claims in the PDS beneficiary list and if  so, the details of  such proposed  measures?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI  BAMBHANIYA)

- (a): A  statement showing  State-wise number of NFSA  beneficiaries  completed e-KYC  as on 3 1  st October 2025 is at Annexure.
- (b) & (c):  As per the Targeted Public Distribution  System (TPDS) Control Order, 2015, the review and updation of ration cards, identification of  duplicate or ineligible beneficiaries, and inclusion  of  eligible  households fall  under the responsibility of the respective State/UT Governments. States/UTs have  been advised to  take all  necessary steps to  facilitate completion of e-KYC  for PDS beneficiaries, including  those residing in rural, remote, and tribal  areas. It  may be noted that no genuine beneficiary has been denied entitlement solely on account of non-completion of e-KYC.

To further support beneficiaries, the Department has enabled Aadhaar-based e-KYC for PDS beneficiaries at any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice across the country. This facility  has been particularly  beneficial  for  migrant  workers, who previously  had to  return to their home States to complete e-KYC. The system is now fully operational in all States/UTs and  has  significantly improved  convenience, accessibility,  and beneficiary compliance.

(d): The Public  Distribution System operates under the joint  responsibility  of the Central and State/UT Governments. The operational functions-including identification  of  eligible families, issuance of  ration cards, Aadhaar seeding, and distribution of  foodgrains-rest with  the respective State/UT Governments.

To  support States/UTs in  improving the accuracy of  beneficiary databases and curbing wrongful inclusion, the Department undertook a comprehensive data analytics exercise during  2024-25. Multiple key  indicators-such as beneficiaries  aged over  100 years, silent ration  cards, duplicate ration  cards, and single-member ration  cards for beneficiaries  below  18 years-were applied to the national PDS database. This  analysis was further strengthened through cross-matching with  datasets of other Ministries/Departments, including  Aadhaar (UIDAI), CBDT,  MoRTH  (Vahan), MCA,  and CBIC.

Based on this multi-layered validation, approximately 8.51 crore beneficiaries were flagged  for  field verification. The  lists  were  shared with all  States/UTs  for  appropriate action in accordance  with their notified inclusion and  exclusion criteria. Till date, States/UTs have reported deletion  of  about 2.13  crore  beneficiaries after verification, thereby enabling the inclusion  of genuinely eligible  households.

+cSe  seescsc

## State-wise number of NFSA beneficiaries completed e-KYC as on 31st October 2025

| S No.   | State / UT                        | No. Of Ration Cards (RC) Under NFSA   | 1 No. of 1beneficiaries 1 under NFSA I (a)   | No. of beneficiaries under NFSA whose e-KYC has been completed(b]   | Percentage of beneficiaries under NFSA whose e-KYC has been completed (%   |
|---------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman & Nicobar Islands         | 17,992                                | 61 ,261                                      | 60,932                                                              | 99.5c70                                                                    |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                    | 88,37,973                             | 2,68,23,200                                  | 2,50,59,919                                                         | 93.4%                                                                      |
| 3       | Assam                             | 70,33,972                             | 2,44,94,885                                  | 2,07,38,508                                                         | 84.7(70                                                                    |
| 4       | Arunachal Pradesh                 | 1,86,417                              | 8,51,047                                     | 4,55,291                                                            | 53.59G                                                                     |
| 5       | Bihar                             | 2,08,36, 105                          | 8,32,20,904                                  | 6,51,44,413                                                         | 78.3%                                                                      |
| 6       | Chandigarh(DBT)                   | 82,850                                | 3,41,954                                     | 3,32,148                                                            | 97.19/o                                                                    |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh                      | 56, 18,976                            | 1,98,49,313                                  | 1,72,65,202                                                         | 87.0%                                                                      |
| 8       | Delhi                             | 17,40,621                             | I1,11 ,995                                   | 59,12,891                                                           | 81.2%                                                                      |
| 9       | Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu | 57,781                                | 2,65,160                                     | 2,12,253                                                            | 80.O%                                                                      |
| F       |                                   | 42,11,814                             | 1 ,64,32,686                                 | 91 ,66,316                                                          | 55.89/o                                                                    |
| F       |                                   | 7,40,855                              | 28,25,555                                    | 27,49,841                                                           | 97.3c%                                                                     |
| PG      |                                   | 1,22,279                              | 4,46,965                                     | 3,38,861                                                            | 75.89/o                                                                    |
| G       |                                   | 75,83,635                             | 3,52,78,131                                  | 3,20,67,896                                                         | 90.9%                                                                      |
| 14      | 1Jammu & Kashmir                  | 16,60,400                             | 67,40,632                                    | 58,78,557                                                           | 87.2c70                                                                    |
| J       |                                   | 60,30,329                             | 2,62,98,890                                  | 2,00,82,241                                                         | 76.4%                                                                      |
| t       |                                   | 1,09, 13,532                          | 3,98,69,604                                  | 3,96,91 ,980                                                        | 99.6%                                                                      |
| Bl      |                                   | 42,42,928                             | 1 ,45,80,356                                 | 1 ,44,01 ,09 1                                                      | 98.8%                                                                      |
| d       |                                   | 28,880                                | 1, 13,349                                    | 1, 13,349                                                           | IC)O.O%                                                                    |
| I       |                                   | 4,629                                 | 20, 179                                      | 17,674                                                              | 87.6%                                                                      |
| A       |                                   | 1,31,86,400                           | 5,35,08,215                                  | 4,94,22,460                                                         | 92.4%                                                                      |
| t       |                                   | 1,67,85,945                           | 6,83,22,243                                  | 4,03,74,787                                                         | 59.1%                                                                      |
| R       |                                   | 5,82,335                              | 21 , 15,890                                  | 1,15,371                                                            | 5.598                                                                      |
| A       |                                   | 4,21,888                              | 21,45, 105                                   | 8,40,140                                                            | 39.29/o                                                                    |
| N       |                                   | 1,79,564                              | 7,06,210                                     | 5,67,687                                                            | 80.4%                                                                      |
| N       |                                   | 3,33,943                              | 11,78,425                                    | 9,02,732                                                            | 76.6%                                                                      |
| d       |                                   | 1,91,253                              | 6,34,390                                     | 3,43,134                                                            | 54. lc70                                                                   |

| 27   | Rajasthan     | 1 ,09,43,305   | 4,43,98,244    | 4, 13,40,735   | 93.1(yo   |
|------|---------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|-----------|
| 28   | Sikkim        | 97,08 1        | 3,80,556       | 3, 13,915      | 82.5%     |
| 29   | Tamil Nadu    | 1, 17,14,899   | 3,60,00,980    | 3,20,94,193    | 89.lcyo   |
| 30   | Telangana     | 56,46,580      | 1 ,9 1 ,69,600 | 1,66, 18,534   | 86.7%     |
| 31   | Tripura       | 6,03,764       | 23,44,930      | 19,34,861      | 82.5%     |
| 32   | Punjab        | 40,50,878      | 1,51,67,073    | 1,30,97,735    | 86.4%     |
| 33   | Odisha        | 96,48,379      | 3,25,41,555    | 3,09,41 ,730   | 95.1%     |
| 34   | Uttarakhand   | 13,97,689      | 60,80,620      | 25,20, 196     | 41.4%     |
| 35   | Uttar Pradesh | 3,62,02,876    | 14,57,02,235   | 13, 14, 15,709 | 90.2%     |
| 36   | West Bengal   | 1,37,30,496    | 5,99,14,052    | 5,89,62,690 r  | 98.4%     |
| b    | TOTAL T       | 0              | 79,61,02 ,389  | 68, 14,95,972  | 85,6%     |