Lok Sabha Question No. 1517 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-26
Subject: Fake Ration Cards
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: AJAY NISHAD, RATTAN LAL KATARIA, B.V. NAYAK, BRIJBHUSHAN SHARAN SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1517

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 TH  JULY, 2016

## FAKE RATION CARDS

1517.

SHRI AJAY NISHAD:

SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA:

SHRI B.V. NAIK:

SHRI BRIJBHUSHAN SHARAN SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has issued any directions/guidelines to the State Governments to review the list of Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries and ration cards to eliminate fake ration cards and ineligible beneficiaries;
- if so, the details thereof indicating the number of beneficiaries/cards as on date and the number of cards cancelled and beneficiaries excluded during the last one year along with the subsidy saved as a result thereof,
- (b) State-wise;
- (c) whether  some  States  have  been  unsuccessful  in  following  these guidelines  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  reasons  therefor  and  the
- remedial measures taken in this regard;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to issue biometric ration cards, if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be implemented; and
- (e) whether the Government has linked/ proposes to link PDS with Direct Benefit Transfer and if so, the quantum of food subsidy saved as a result thereof ?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a)  to  (c): Public  Distribution  System  (Control)  Order,  2001  and  Targeted Public  Distribution  System  (Control)  Order,  2015, stipulate  that  State/UT Governments are required to review the lists of beneficiaries every year for the  purpose  of  deletion  of  ineligible  families  and  inclusion  of  eligible families. State/UT Governments have been requested from time to time to carry  out  drives  for  reviewing  the  list  of  beneficiaries  under  TPDS.  The exercise  of  deletion  of  bogus/ineligible  cards  and  inclusion  of  eligible families  is  a  continuous  process  and  State/UT  Governments  are  to periodically  carry  out  the  same.    As  per  the  information  received  from State/UT Governments the total number of ration cards as on 12.07.2016 are 24,01,61,531.

As per the information received from State/UT Governments, a Statewise  statement  showing  the  number  of  de-duplicated/ghost/  ineligible/ fake/forged ration cards deleted by the State/UT Governments in year 2015 is at Annex.

Detection  and  deletion  of  de-duplicated/ghost/  ineligible/fake/forged cards  does  not  mean  reduction  in  allocation  and  savings  in  subsidy  but results in selection of deserving beneficiaries and issuance of ration cards to them leading to better targeting of subsidy.

(d): No,  Madam.  However,  the  guideline  for  FPS  automation  has  been shared with all States/UTs which involves installation of Point of Sale (PoS) device at FPS inter-alia for authentication of beneficiaries through biometric details.

(e): It is upto the State/UT Governments to opt for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under which subsidy component will be credited to bank accounts of beneficiaries who are free to buy foodgrains from anywhere in the market to  ensure  their  foodgrains  entitlement.  For  taking  up  this  model,  prerequisites for the States/UTs are  complete digitization of beneficiary data and  seeding  bank  account  details  of  beneficiaries  with  AADHAAR.  The scheme  has  been  implemented  on  pilot  basis  in  UTs  of  Chandigarh  and Puducherry w.e.f. 1st September, 2015 and Dadra & Nagar Haveli w.e.f. 1st March,  2016.  An  amount  equivalent  to    1.25  times  of  Minimum  Support Price of concerned foodgrain minus Central Issue Price is credited as food subsidy in the household's account.

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## ANNEX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (c)OF THE UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1517 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 26.07.2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

## Updated Statement* of Deleted Ration Cards**

|   Sl. | States/UTs          | 2015      |
|-------|---------------------|-----------|
|     1 | Andaman& Nicobar    | 37        |
|     2 | Andhra Pradesh      | 0         |
|     3 | Arunachal Pradesh   | 43        |
|     4 | Assam               | 0         |
|     5 | Bihar               | 16,401    |
|     6 | Chandigarh (on DBT) | 0         |
|     7 | Chhattisgarh        | 1,43,000  |
|     8 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 0         |
|     9 | Daman &Diu          | 0         |
|    10 | Delhi               | 22,171    |
|    11 | Goa                 | 1,17,801  |
|    12 | Gujarat             | 0         |
|    13 | Haryana             | 0         |
|    14 | Himachal Pradesh    | 0         |
|    15 | Jammu and Kashmir   | 0         |
|    16 | Jharkhand           | 7,914     |
|    17 | Karnataka           | 17,52,749 |
|    18 | Kerala              | 0         |
|    19 | Lakshadweep         | 0         |
|    20 | Madhya Pradesh      | 0         |
|    21 | Maharashtra         | 8,20,780  |
|    22 | Manipur             | 0         |
|    23 | Meghalaya           | 0         |
|    24 | Mizoram             | 48        |
|    25 | Nagaland            | 0         |
|    26 | Odisha              | 0         |
|    27 | Puducherry (on DBT) | 9,507     |
|    28 | Punjab              | 93,627    |
|    29 | Rajasthan           | 26,329    |
|    30 | Sikkim              | 0         |
|    31 | Tamil Nadu          | 1,14,175  |
|    32 | Telangana           | 10,27,000 |
|    33 | Tripura             | 66,580    |
|    34 | Uttar Pradesh       | 6,38,152  |
|    35 | Uttarakhand         | 0         |
|    36 | West Bengal         | 18,34,284 |

***