BHUBANESWAR : As the government has started verification of foreign nationals living in the state in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, Food Supplies minister Krushna Chandra Patra on Monday said most of them have been found to possess ration cards and action is being taken to cancel them.
Patra told mediapersons here that a majority of the foreign nationals including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and a few Myanmarese residing in the state have obtained ration cards by influencing local politicians or adopting other illegal means. This has been confirmed during the ongoing verification.
Describing it as a serious matter, the minister said instructions have been issued to department authorities to work in coordination with district administrations to find ration cards in possession of foreign nationals and take prompt action to remove them from the NFSA and SFSS database.
He said district administrations have been instructed to intensify the verification drive by collecting information from panchayat representatives, local authorities, community members and elected representatives. Verification of documents including voter ID and Aadhaar card is being carried out rigorously to ensure that only legitimate citizens of the state are part of the food security system.
The minister said the state government is taking all necessary steps to ensure that the welfare programmes are exclusively available to legitimate citizens. The state will continue to monitor the situation closely and take steps to maintain the sanctity of public distribution system and other government schemes.
Action will be taken against those who have assisted the foreign nationals in obtaining ration cards, Patra said.
In a separate interaction with reporters, Panchayati Raj minister Rabi Narayan Naik said the state government has taken action to identify Pakistani nationals living in the state with extended visas or without valid documents following directives from the Union Home Ministry for their deportation.
Efforts are also underway to identify Bangladeshi and Myanmar nationals residing in the state without valid visas. Their Aadhaar cards and voter IDs are being verified. He said a list of these individuals will be prepared and sent to the Home department for deportation.