State cancels 3 lakh fake ration cards ahead of e-PDS launch
It’s a step towards ending hoarding, black marketing of foodgrains
JAMSHEDPUR: Jharkhand has cancelled three lakh dubious ration cards ahead of rolling out the electronic public distribution (e-PDS) of foodgrains.
Linked to Aadhaar and biometrically verified, the e-PDS under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) is a step towards ending the paper-intensive manual PDS that often led to corrupt practices such as hoarding and black-marketing.
A top bureaucrat said on Tuesday the government cancelled nearly three lakh ration cards that were duplicate, ineligible or of cases where the beneficiary’s address was not traceable.
“The three-phase biometric e-PDS will begin from August 15 in eight districts,” Vinay Kumar Choubey, state food and supply secretary, told HT. “Next month, 10 more districts will be covered, and the rest six districts in October.”
The e-PDS has already been running in Ranchi from August 1. From August 15, the first phase of the scheme will roll out in seven more districts: Khunti, Hazaribag, Chatra, Jamtara, Garhwa and SeraikelaKharsawan from August 15.
“Around 9 lakh new households and 2.59 crore citizens of the state have now been covered under NFSA,” Choubey said. “We’ve also set up a target of implementing the ration card management system across the state by December. The duplicate cards indentified so far have been deleted from the PDS database. We appeal ineligible people to surrender their cards or face penal action.”
The NFSA, which was made a law in September 2013, aims to provide subsidised food-grains to two-thirds of the country’s 1.2 billion people.
Officials said Singhbhum district alone had 15,000 fake cards, of which 4,000 were cancelled. “Most of such fake cards are in Potka block, where we have cancelled 800 such cards,” Suraj Kumar, Dhalbhum sub-divisional officer, said.
State food and supply minister Saryu Rai said ration cards for primary households (PHs) and Antyodyay beneficiaries have “almost touched” the NFSA limit of 2.64 crore people. “So, new cards in these two categories will be made only after the old ones are either cancelled or surrendered.”
“People outside the purview of PH and Antyodyay can get white ration cards that can be used to buy kerosene oil and non-subsidised items,” Rai said.
The three-phase biometric e-PDS will begin from August 15 in eight districts. Next month, 10 more districts will be covered, and the rest six districts in October. VINAY KUMAR CHOUBEY, state food and supply secretary