Lok Sabha Question No. 6195 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: Eligible Beneficiaries of PDS
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Hanuman Beniwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY  OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK  SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6195

TO BE ANSWERED ON IsT APRIL, 2026

## ELIGIBLE  BENEFICIARIES OF PDS

## +6195.  SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

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

- (a): whether it has come to the notice of the Government that eligible beneficiaries  under the Public, Distribution System (PDS) several States including  Rajasthan and Uttar  Pradesh are not regularly receiving foodgrains of the prescribed quantity and quality;
- (b): if  so, the primary  reasons for  these discrepancies and the State-wise details thereof;
- (c): whether  it is also a fact that poor,  needy and eligible  families  are facing  hardships due to Irregularities,  corruption,  bogus ration  cards and technical  glitches related to Aadhaar  seeding;
- (d): if  so, the details  of the Government's action plan to resolve these issues, enhance transparency and ensure timely  and full  delivery  offoodgrains to beneficiaries; and
- (e): whether the Government  proposes to include eligible families currently excluded from the National Food Security Act (NFSA)  in Rajasthan  and Uttar Pradesh and if so, the details thereoP

## ANSWER

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

(SHRIM ATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI  BAMBHANIYA)

(a) to  (b): Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under National Food Security Act (NFSA),  20 1  3 is operated under the joint  responsibility  of the Central and the State/Union Territory (UT) Governments.  The operational responsibilities for allocation offoodgrains  within  the States/ UTs, identification of eligible beneficiaries,  issuance of  ration cards to them, distribution of foodgrains to eligible beneficiaries  under TPDS, issuance of  license to Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers, supervision over and monitoring  of functioning  ofFPSs  etc. rest with  the concerned State/ UT Governments.

No report has been received from any State/UT (including Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) indicating that the  eligible  beneficiaries  under the  Public Distribution  System  (PDS) are not regularly receiving foodgrains of the prescribed quantity and quality.

(c) to  (d): No  such hardships have been reported. In  order to  enhance transparency and ensure timely and full  delivery of food grains to beneficiaries, following initiatives have been taken by the Government:-

- Ration cards/beneficiary's database have been completely digitized (100%)  in  all States/UTs. 99.7% of ration cards have been Aadhar seeded.
- The transparency portal and online  grievance redressal  facility/Toll-free number have been implemented in all States/UTs.
- Online allocation has been implemented in all  States/UTs and supply chain has been computerized in 31 States/UTs (except UTs ofChandigarh, Puducherry and Urban area of Dadra & Nagar Haveli  which  have adopted DBT  Cash Transfer scheme).
- 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 (PVIGKAY) beneficiaries.
- 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  e-PoS devices (also linked with digital  weighing  scales) for the  distribution  of foodgrains through  Aadhaar biometric  authentication  of beneficiaries.
- Further, the Department has formulated  and issued a Quality  Control  Manual to uniformly maintain the quality standards of  foodgrains from procurement  to  its distribution to the eligible  beneficiaries through various social security programs ofGoI. ·

(e): The National Food Security Act,  2013 (NFSA), as per Census 2011, provides for  a maximum coverage of 81.35 crore persons. Identification of beneficiaries and issuance of ration cards to them rests with the State/UT Government.  Vide TPDS (Control) Order, 2015, all States/ UTs have been mandated to regularly  review the list of beneficiaries by removing  ineligible  people, adding eligible ones and doing e-KYC every 5 years; temporarily disable Ration Cards of  inactive/ duplicate beneficiaries. This exercise is a continuous process which ensures deletion of ineligible beneficiaries  and  addition  of eligible  beneficiaries  enabling better targeting of  rightful beneficiaries

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