BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Wednesday informed the Assembly that new ration cards will be issued to those applicants who are found eligible after Aadhaar-based e-KYC verification of cards in circulation.
The government has so far received 9,91,929 applications for ration cards and the verification is underway. Applicants who are eligible to be covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) will be issued the cards. However, issue of new cards is subject to completion of e-KYC verification of the existing cards.
Responding to a query from Congress MLA Sofia Firdous, Education minister Suryabanshi Suraj told the Assembly that e-KYC verification is a sensitive matter and hence the government has appealed to people to get the process completed within the stipulated time. He was replying on behalf of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister Krushan Chandra Patra in the latter’s absence.
The minister, however, said those who have got separated from their parents will be eligible for getting ration cards provided they meet the criteria set for coverage under the food security programme. He assured that no ration card will be cancelled on political consideration or any other factor. Eligible individuals will receive ration cards and there will be no discrimination in selection of beneficiaries.
In the last Assembly session, Patra had said approximately 16.28 lakh ghost ration cards were identified following which the government initiated e-KYC verification to bring in greater transparency and weed out ineligible persons from the food security programme.
The online KYC verification has commenced across the state from August 22 and will continue till September 25. In a notification issued by the government, the ration card holders have been advised to complete their Aadhaar seeding and KYC verification through e-PoS (point of sale) machine at PDS dealer’s point by September 25, failing which their cards will be rejected.