Lok Sabha Question No. 5485 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: NFSA    in Maharashtra
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Smt. Supriya Sule, Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5485

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25Ttl MARCH, 2026

## NFSA IN MAHARASHTRA

## 5485. SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH: SMT. SUPRIYA  SULE:

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

- (a) : whether the Government is aware that Maharashtra  has identified the maximum permissible number of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act,  2013, ensuring wide coverage of food security for rural and urban households in the State and if so, the details thereof;
- (b): the details of the steps taken by the Government to strengthen Aadhaar-based and alternative authentication mechanisms  including C)TP-based verification  to ensure smooth distribution  offoodgrains  and prevent exclusion of genuine beneficiaries due to biometric or connectivity-related issues;
- (c): whether any monitoring or audit mechanisms  are in place to assess the functioning of Fair Price Shops in Maharashtra  particularly in rural and remote areas to ensure transparency and timely delivery of entitlements; and
- (d): whether the Government proposes to further  enhance Union-State coordination,  grievance redressal systems and use of digital  technology  to improve  efficiency,  accountability  and beneficiary satisfaction under the  Targeted Public  Distribution System in  Maharashtra and if  so, the details thereon

## ANSWER

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

(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)

- (a) : The National Food Security Act  (NFSA) 2013, provides for coverage of 76.32% of the rural and 45.34% of the urban population in the State of Maharashtra,  for receiving free of cost foodgrains, which  at Census 2011 comes to  700.17 lakh  persons, The State Government of  Maharashtra has identified 68 1.42 lakh beneficiaries for receiving free of cost foodgrains under the Act, which is about 97.32c% of the intended coverage.
- (b): Under the joint  responsibility  of the Central and the State Governments,  the responsibility for identification  of beneficiaries, within  the coverage determined for the State/UT and issuance of their ration  cards rest with  the concerned States/UTs.

DFPD's notification  issued vide SO No. 371 [E] dated 08/02/2017 [as amended  from time to time]  under Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery  of  Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services)

Act,  2016 (''Aadhaar Act"),  requires the individual  beneficiaries having  Ration Cards under NFS A to undergo Aadhaar authentication to receive subsidies  under NFS A.

Further, all  States/UTs have been advised vide  this Department's  letter dated 24/ 10/2017 that no  genuine beneficiary/household  shall  be denied from  receiving  entitled  quota of  subsidized foodgrains due to  failure  of  biometric/Aadhaar  authentication due to network/connectivity/linking related issues, other technical reasons or poor biometrics of the beneficiary."

(c): in  order to ensure transparency and accountability in Targeted Public Distribution  System (TPDS), the Act provides for periodic social audits on the functioning of fair price shops, Targeted Public Distribution  System  and other welfare schemes, through local authority, or any other authority or body, as may be authorized by the State Government. The Central Government may also conduct or cause to be conducted social audit through independent agencies having experience  in conduct of such audits

Further, the Act  provides for  constitution of Vigilance  Committees at the State, District, Block  and fair  price shop levels for ensuring transparency  and proper functioning  of the TPDS and accountability of the functionaries in the system.

(d): in  order to  improve the  efficiency, accountability and beneficiary satisfaction,  the Government has taken following  steps for  modernization of  Public  Distribution  System in  all States/UTs are as follows -

(i)  Ration cards/beneficiary's  database have been completely  digitized  (100%)  in  all  States/UTs. 99.7% of ration cards have been Aadhar seeded.

(ii)  The transparency portal  and online  grievance redressal facility/Toll-free  number have been implemented  in  all  States/UTs.

(iii)  Online allocation has been implemented in  all  States/UTs and supply chain has been computerized in 3 1 States/UTs (except UTs ofChandigarh,  Puducherry and Urban area of Dadra & Nagar Haveli  which  have adopted DBT  Cash Transfer  scheme).

(iv)  The nationwide portability  of ration cards, popularly known as One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) has been implemented in all  36 States/UTs, covering all  Pradhan Mantri  Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)  beneficiaries.  As on date, more than 207 Crore portability transactions have been recorded under ONORC.

(v) More than 5.50 Lakh (99.8%) out of total 5.51 Lakh Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in the country have been automated by  installing  ePoS devices for  the  distribution  of  foodgrains through Aadhaar biometric authentication of beneficiaries

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