Lok Sabha Question No. 5999 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: Audit of Free Ration Beneficiaries under NFSA
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Captain Brijesh Chowta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK  SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5999

TO BE ANSWERED ON IsT APRIL, 2026

## AUDIT  OF FREE RATION BENEFICIARIES UNDER NFSA

## 5999. SHRI CAPTAIN BRIJESH CHOWTA:

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

- (a): whether Government initiated  an audit/verification exercise of beneficiaries under National Food Safety Act  (.NFS A)  to weed out ineligible  and suspicious ration cardholders and if so, the details thereof;
- (b): the details of number of  such suspicious, ineligible  beneficiaries identified,  removed so far, State-wise  along with the  key parameters  being used  for verification including Aadhaar deduplicat ion;
- (c): the details of the estimated savings in terms offoodgrains and subsidy expenditure resulting from such removal;
- (d): the details  of safeguards to ensure that genuine vulnerable poor families  are not adversely affected during verification drive  along with  details of appeal, grievance redressal available;
- (e): whether any instances of  misuse, political  interference  in Karnataka State or fraudulent practices by officials  or  private parties have been detected during  this audit  exercise and if so, the corrective action taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (f): the manner in which  the Government  proposes to further  strengthen transparency and accountability  in the distribution  of  subsidised foodgrains  while  ensuring intended benefits reach only most deserving households?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRIM ATI NINIUBEN JAYANTIBHAI  BAMBHANIYA)

(a) &  (b): The Targeted Public Distribution  System (TPDS), governed under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, operates under the joint  responsibility  of  the Central  and State/UT Governments. The operational responsibilities  relating to  identification of  eligible beneficiaries and families, issuance and management of  ration cards, and updation of beneficiary  databases  rest with  the respective State/UT  Governments.

In order to sapport States/UTs in improving the accuracy of beneficiary databases and to address inclusion and exclusion errors, the Department of  Food and Public Distribution has undertaken a ' Rightful  Targeting' exercise using data analytics and cross-verification  of NFS A beneficiary data with multiple  external databases of various Ministries/Departments, including Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN)/CBIC, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH Vahan), and Aadhaar, along with  internal PDS database  parameters. The key parameters used for  identification of  ineligible  beneficiaries include, beneficiaries identified as Directors in companies (MCA),  income criteria  as per CBDT  records (e.g., income above ?6 lakh or as per State-specific thresholds),  Aadhaar-based checks such as deceased beneficiaries,  beneficiaries above 100 years of  age or  anomalous cases like  single-member households  below  18 years, ownership of  motor  vehicles as per MoRTH  database,  GST-related indicators such as turnover exceeding ?25  lakh,  detection of  duplicate  beneficiaries, and  identification  of 'silent beneficiaries' not availing ration for a prolonged period.

Based on this  exercise, 8.51  crore  beneficiaries  were flagged across States/UTs for  field verification by the respective State/UT Government. Subsequent field-level verification by States/UTs  has  led  to  removal of  2.21  crore ineligible beneficiaries enabling improved targeting of genuinely eligible households. Additionally,  2.64 crore  beneficiaries were found eligible  by the  States/UTs and  have been retained. State/UT-wise details  are  placed at Annexu re

- (c): The  savings cannot be precisely  quantified,  as States/UTs issue new  ration  cards to eligible  beneficiaries in place of those removed. However, the removal of ineligible/duplicate beneficiaries creates  space for  inclusion  of more deserving households and enhances the overall efficiency  and targeting  of the system.
- (d): States/UTs have been advised to carry out re-verification  of these flagged cases strictly  in accordance with their notified inclusion/exclusion criteria. Any decision regarding  retention, deletion, or  correction of  beneficiary records is  taken only  after such verification by the respective State/UT Governments. No  beneficiary is removed automatically or  without  due process. The Department has also undertaken several measures to strengthen digital  monitoring and grievance redressa! mechanisms under the Public  Distribution  System (PDS).

Firstly, grievance redressal systems have  been  strengthened through  the  universal availability  of  toll-free  helplines (1967/1800 series) across all  States/UTs. In addition, Anna

Sahayata (ASHA) has  been  introduced  as  an  Al-enabled grievance  redressal platform leveraging WhatsApp and IVRS  channels, enabling beneficiaries to  lodge complaints and provide feedback in their preferred regional languages.

The Mera Ration Mobile  App  also provides an integrated interface for  beneficiaries to access their  entitlement details, view  transaction history, locate nearby FPSs, and register grievances directly.

Further, monitoring  has been strengthened through integration with  the  CPGRAMS platform, wherein States/UTs have been advised to adhere to the prescribed timeline of 21 days for  grievance disposal. Grievance pendency is regularly  monitored through dashboards, and periodic advisories are issued to ensure timely  resolution. States/UTs with  high pendency are specifically flagged for corrective action.

These initiatives  collectively enhance transparency, improve  accountability,  and ensure timely delivery of services to beneficiaries under the PDS.

- (e): No  instances of  misuse, political  interference, or  fraudulent practices by  officials  or private parties have been reported to this Department.
- (f): Present Status of  modernization  efforts of  Public Distribution System  (PDS) by the Department across the country are as follows  -
- Ration cards/beneficiary's database have been completely digitized (100%) in  all States/UTs.
- ·Aadhaar  seeding has been completed  for  more than 99.7% ration cards and about 99.26% beneficiaries.
- All  States/UTs have been regularly  urged to complete the eKYC  so that the benefits of the scheme reach the entitled beneficiaries.  The eKYC  has been completed for  87.30% beneficiaries.
- ·Nearly 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
- Introduction of  Anna  Sahayata, an  advanced  Al-enabled WhatsApp  and  IVRS-based grievance redressal system, allowing  beneficiaries to  lodge complaints in  their  own language using these platforms.
- Mera Ration Mobile  App, which enables beneficiaries  to check their entitlements, member and demographic details, last month's distribution  status, nearby FPS location, and to lodge grievances directly through the app.
- Anna  Mitra  mobile  app enables the field  level functionaries  as well  FPS dealers to run day to day PDS operations.
- For effective and efficient  implementation of the distribution  process, the Department has urged the States to  integrate the ePOS devices in  FPS with  weighing  scales.

SeSeRSeSc

## State/UT-wise details details

| Sr No.      | State Name                        | Flagged Cases   | Deleted by States/UTs   | Retained by States/UTs   | Total Actions (yo by States   |
|-------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------|-------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1           | GUJARAT                           | 55,09,230       | 15, 17,734              | 42,84,766                | 100.00%                       |
| 2           | KERALA                            | 19,21,831       | 85,788                  | 18,09,058                | 98.60%                        |
| 3           | RAJASTHAN                         | 75,68,053       | 16,67,678               | 56,87,645                | 97. 19%                       |
| 4           | ODISHA                            | 49,27,086       | 5,28,099                | 41,08,592                | 94. 11%                       |
| 5           | ANDHRA PRADESH                    | 37,90,41 8      | 3,21,157                | 30,43,946                | 88.78%                        |
| 6           | CHHATTISGARH                      | 33,36,534       | 2,93,521                | 23,07,675                | 77.96%                        |
| 7           | UTTAR PRADESH                     | 54,80,5 18      | 22,77,303               | 17,32,339                | 73.16%                        |
| 8           | TRIPURA                           | 1 ,05,000       | 51,807                  | 20,153                   | 68.53%                        |
| 9           | LAKSHADWEEP                       | 6.084           | 4,012                   |                          | 65.94%                        |
| 10          | HARYANA                           | 31 ,64,507      | 20,03,743               | 1                        | 63.32%                        |
| 11          | KARNATAKA                         | 7,6 1 ,689      | 4,26,315                | 54,342                   | 63.10%                        |
| 12          | BIHAR                             | 54,20,773       | 13,46,788               | 14,54,077                | 5 1.67%                       |
| 13          | PUNJAB                            | 22, 11,899      | 2,66,548                | 7,94,297                 | 47.96%                        |
| 14          | TELANGANA                         | 4,95,795        | 1,39,718                | 79,998                   | 44.32%                        |
| 15          | MAHARASHTRA                       | 7               | 4                       | SI ,nI                   | 41.90%                        |
| 16          | ANDAMAN AND NICOB AR ISLANDS      | 971             | 137                     | 267                      | 41.61%                        |
| 17          | ASSAM                             | 35,95,862       | 12,94,024               | 25                       | 35.99%                        |
| 18          | TAMILNADU                         | 10,46,675       | 2, 10,814               | 1,28,195                 | 32.39%                        |
| 19          | WESTBENGAL                        | 17,29,802       | 3,57,390                | 1,86,612                 | 3 1.45%                       |
| 20          | JHARKHAND                         | 40,69,980       | 6,94,090                | U6                       | 26.06%                        |
| 21          | Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Daman& Diu | 52,265          | 8,689                   | 9                        | 16.64%                        |
| 22          | MADHYA PRADESH                    | 73,85,254       | 9,26,882                | 2, 15,687                | 15.47%                        |
| 23          | HIMACHAL PRADESH                  | 5,32,435        | 25,357                  | 55,324                   | 15.15%                        |
| 24          | UTTARAKH AND                      | 8,53,703        | 74,4 14                 | 41 ,253                  | 13.55%                        |
| 25          | mI                                | 38, 134         | 4,411                   | 400                      | 12.62%                        |
| 26          | CHANDIGARH                        | 61 ,481         | 7,457                   |                          | 12.13%                        |
| 27          | DELHI                             | 8, 14,258       | 80,420                  |                          | 9.88%                         |
| 28          | NAGALAND                          | 3,08,904        | 23,799                  | 2                        | 7.70%                         |
| 29          | GOA                               | 49,279          | 3,312                   |                          | 6.72%                         |
| 30          | MIZORAM                           | 1,72,24 1       | 8,669                   | 7                        | 5.04%                         |
| 31          | PUDUCHERRY                        | 3 1,002         | 1,342                   |                          | 4.33%                         |
| 32          | LADAKH                            | 19,229          | 618                     | 1                        | 3.22%                         |
| 33          | JAMMU AND KASHMIR                 | 10,67,961       | 28,665                  | HO                       | 2.97%                         |
| 34          | MANIPUR                           | 5,66,437        | 15,540                  |                          | 2.74%                         |
| 35          | MEGHALAYA                         | 49,455          | 1,317                   |                          | 2.66%                         |
| 36          | ARUNACHAL PRADESH                 | 1 ,67,926       | 30                      |                          | 0.02%                         |
| Grand Total | Grand Total                       | 8,51,57,242     | 2,21,16,115             | 2,64,32,181              | 57.01%                        |

## Annexure