13 lakh ineligible names deleted from the ration card database

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs deleted around 13 lakh names of ineligible beneficiaries from the ration card data in the past few months, and the process of deletion goes on.

The State Government has become very strict on ration cards to ensure that no ineligible person gets benefits under the PDS (public distribution system). The government is also taking special care to ensure that it does not have to supply food grains for anyone who is no longer alive, and no one should avail of double ration card benefits.

Talking to The Sentinel, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Director Ankur Bharali said, "The thrust of the government is to clean the ration card database. The process acquired momentum in the past few months. In the case of many women, their names figure in the ration cards of their parents and in-laws. In some cases, the names of dead persons also continue to figure in the ration cards of their family members. The government supplies excess food grains against such bogus or ineligible beneficiaries. The seeding of Aadhaar cards with ration cards has also helped in detecting ineligible beneficiaries in ration cards."

According to sources, Assam has around 58 lakh ration card-holding families with about 2.34 crore beneficiaries. When viewing ration card-wise, the department has seeded 74 per cent of ration cards with Aadhaar cards. It is 75 per cent when viewed ration card beneficiary-wise. According to the Government of India's guidelines, the Aadhaar seeding of ration cards is mandatory.

Aadhaar seeding of ration cards is not yet complete in Assam. The last date for Aadhaar seeding in the state was June 30. Since the seeding process is slow in the tea garden and hill areas, the Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs sought more time. The government has extended the last date up to August 19 this year.

Meanwhile, following instructions from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the government has asked the Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs to delete all ineligible names in ration cards from the database by August 19, 2022.

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