LOK SABHA
RATION CARDS TO POOR
Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:
(a) whether many poor persons living below the poverty line have not got ration cards because of which they have ben deprived of publics distribution schemes of the Government;
(b) if so, the response of the Government thereto;
(c) whether the ration cards provided to the persons living below the poverty line are being misused by persons who are not entitled for such cards for availing the benefit of public distribution scheme in connivance with corrupt officers; and
(d) if so, the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard and the outcome thereof?
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)
(a) & (b): Under National Food Security. Act, 2013 (NFSA), the criteria for identification of elgible beneficiaries/households has been de-linked from the erstwhile poverty estimates·,i.e., BPUAPL categories and is linked to the population estimates ·as per the census of 2011 up to seventy-five percent of the rural population and up to fifty percent of the urban population of the country. Accordingly; under NFSA, highly subsidized foodgrains are distributed to · around eighty crores eligible NFSA beneficiaries under the categories of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) categories, identified by the concerned State/UT Governments.
(c)&(d): To prevent any kind of misuse, diversion or leakages of the highly subsidized NFSA foodgrains, this Department in association with all States/UTs under TPDS reforms implemented a scheme ‘End to End Computerization of TPDS Operations’ which mainly comprised digitization of all rations cards/beneficiaries’ data under NFSA, computerization of supply chain management, installation of electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices at all Fair Price Shops (FPSs), online grievance redressal and toll free helpline facilities, etc. for bringing higher transparency and efficiency in the distribution of foodgrains to all NFSA beneficiaries in the country. Further, review for inclusion of elgible beneficiaries/households and exclusion of ineligible beneficiaries/households is a regular process by the State/UT Governments by taking into account, inter alia, migration, birth, death, marriage, change in social and economic status etc. Through this continuous process of review, States/UTs exclude inelgible beneficiaries/households from their respective lists and include other genuinely eligible and left out beneficiaries/households up to their respective ceiling limits of NFSA coverage. A total of about 4.28 Crore such ineligible/bogus rations cards have been deleted by the States/UTs during the period 2014 to 2021.