Lok Sabha Question No. 1599 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-08
Subject: Food Subsidy
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: HARI NARAYAN RAJBHAR, HARISH DWIVEDI, LAXMAN GILUWA, BHEEMRAO BASWANTHRAO PATIL, KANWAR SINGH TANWAR, PRATAPRAO GANPATRAO JADHAV, NINONG ERING, ANOOP MISHRA, PANKAJ CHOWDHARY, K. C. VENUGOPAL, ALOK SANJAR, LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV, KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 08 th  DECEMBER, 2015

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1599 FOOD SUBSIDY

1599. SHRI HARINARAYAN RAJBHAR:

SHRI HARISH CHANDRA ALIAS HARISH DWIVEDI:

SHRI LAXMAN GILUWA:

SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:

SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI NINONG ERING:

SHRI ANOOP MISHRA:

SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY:

SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL:

SHRI ALOK SANJAR:

SHRI LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV:

DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI:

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

- whether a recent study has revealed presence of fake cards in the Public Distribution System leading to loss of subsidy, if so, the details and the  outcome thereof indicating the number of fake cards detected along with  the  amount  of  subsidy  allocated  and  saved,  during  the  last  three
- (a) years, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has directed the States/UTs to undertake a review  of  the  list  of  beneficiaries  and  weed  out  fake  cards,  if  so,  the details thereof and the response of the States/UTs thereto;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to integrate Information Technology  (IT) tools like Aadhar  linkage,  Smart  Cards,  GPRS  and Biometric  authentication  to  improve  and  modernise  Public  Distribution System (PDS) and if so, the details and the procedure thereof; and
- (d) the other steps being taken to improve/modernise the PDS?

A N S W E R MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI RAM  VILAS PASWAN)

(a) & (b): An evaluation study on functioning of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in six selected States namely, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal was awarded to the  National  Council  of  Applied  Economic  Research  (NCAER)  in  March 2014 and final report was accepted in the Department in November, 2015. Based on 2011 census and the family size estimates projected over 2015, the study has estimated the number of excess ration cards made in the six target States as per details given below:

| State         | Excess cards issued (in lakh)   |
|---------------|---------------------------------|
| Assam         | -                               |
| Bihar         | 33.92                           |
| Chhattisgarh  | 10.84                           |
| Karnataka     | 2.15                            |
| Uttar Pradesh | 98.39                           |
| West Bengal   | 19.39                           |

Detection  and  deletion  of  fake  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.

With an aim to strengthen the TPDS and to curb diversion/leakage, a Nine  Point  Action  Plan  was  evolved  in  July  2006  and  forwarded  to State/UT Governments for implementation by them.  The various points of action included undertaking of campaign by State Governments for review of  Below  Poverty  Line  (BPL)  /  Antyodaya  Anna  Yojana  (AAY)  lists,  to eliminate ghost ration cards.

Further,  in  terms  of  the  PDS  (Control)  Order,  2001,  dated  31.08.2001, State/UT  Governments  are  to  review  the  lists  of  BPL  and  AAY  families every year for the purpose of deletion of ineligible families and inclusion of eligible families. The exercise of deletion of bogus/ineligible cards and inclusion of eligible families is a continuous process and State Governments are to periodically carry out the same.  The TPDS (Control) Order, 2015 notified on 20.03.2015 also calls for all the necessary action to  be  taken  by  State/UT  Governments  for  review  of  list  of  beneficiaries and deletion of bogus /ineligible ration cards.

As a result of implementation of Nine Point Action Plan since July 2006, 30  State/UT  Governments  have  reported  up  to  30.06.2015,  deletion  of 494.50 lakhs bogus / ineligible ration cards. A statement giving details of bogus/ineligible  ration  cards  deleted  state-wise  during  the  last  three years and the current year is enclosed as Annex.

(c) & (d): In a continuous endeavour to strengthen and streamline TPDS, the Government has initiated implementation of a plan scheme on 'End-toend Computerisation of TPDS Operations' during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17)  to  ensure  transparency  and  check  leakages  in  the  TPDS system.    Under  the  scheme,  financial  assistance  is  being  provided  to States/UTs on cost sharing basis. The cost is being shared on 90:10 basis with North East States and on 50:50 basis with other States/UTs.  Under this scheme, as per reports received, as on 31.10.2015, ration card data digitization has been done in 29 States/UTs, ration card data is available on  Web  Portal  in  27  States/UTs,  Online  allocation  is  being  done  in  16 States/UTs,  supply-chain  management  in  8  States/UTs,  Transparency Portal set up in 27 States/UTs, online Grievance Redressal Mechanism in 26 and toll free helpline number has been set up in 32 States/UTs.

As  part  of  beneficiary  data  digitization,  States/UTs  have  been requested to seed the Aadhaar numbers wherever available so as to weed out the ineligible/bogus/duplicate beneficiaries. As part of Fair Price Shop (FPS) automation at FPS, use of Aadhaar will ensure proper identification of  beneficiaries  and  distribution  of  foodgrains  only  to  the  intended beneficiaries thereby reducing leakage / diversion, etc.

To  curb  leakages  further,  under  the  National  Food  Security  Act, 2013  (NFSA)  inter  alia,  States/UTs  have  been  asked  to  either  do  cash transfer  of  food  subsidy  under  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  (DBT)  or  install electronic Point of Sale Device (ePoS) at the FPSs.

NFSA, 2013 also encourages progressive reforms in the TPDS.

***

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## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (b)  OF  THE UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1599  DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON  08.12.2015  IN THE LOK SABHA

Statement showing the number of bogus/ineligible rations cards deleted by the State/UT Governments for the last three years and current year

| S. No.   | STATE/UT          | 2012    | 2013    | 2014   | 2015   |    Total |
|----------|-------------------|---------|---------|--------|--------|----------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh $  | 191699  |         |        |        |   191699 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 3        | Assam             | 86346   | 50204   | 6483   |        |   143033 |
| 4        | Bihar             |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |         |         | 94209  |        |    94209 |
| 6        | Delhi             | 57680   |         |        |        |    57680 |
| 7        | Gujarat#          | 407     | 0       | 0      |        |      407 |
| 8        | Haryana           |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  | 235     |         |        |        |      235 |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir   | 3794    |         |        |        |     3794 |
| 11       | Jharkand          |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 12       | Karnataka         | 3300000 | 1977836 |        |        |  5277836 |
| 13       | Kerala            |         | 279     |        |        |      279 |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh    |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 15       | Maharashtra       | 0       | 0       |        |        |        0 |
| 16       | Meghalaya         |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 17       | Mizoram           |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 18       | Nagaland          | 13310   |         |        |        |    13310 |
| 19       | Orissa            |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 20       | Punjab            | 0       | 7982    |        |        |     7982 |
| 21       | Rajasthan         |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 22       | Sikkim            |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 23       | Tamilnadu         |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 24       | Uttar Pradesh     | 19413   |         |        |        |    19413 |
| 25       | Uttarakhand       |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 26       | West Bengal       | 3966906 | 2276085 |        |        |  6242991 |
| 27       | A&N Islands       | 8923    | 1340    |        |        |    10263 |
| 28       | Chandigarh        |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 29       | Lakshdweep        |         |         |        |        |        0 |
| 30       | Puducherry        | 47      | 17381   | 161    | 9370   |    26959 |
|          | Total             | 7648760 | 4331107 | 100853 | 9370   | 12090090 |