Bhubaneswar, Nov 27: Over 1 lakh ghost ration card holders have been identified and removed from the Public Distribution System (PDS) database, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra informed the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday.
Patra explained that to bring transparency to the ration card database under the food security scheme, the government conducted Aadhaar-based e-KYC updation for 2024-25 to verify the authenticity of beneficiaries. Of the 3,36,35,918 PDS beneficiaries in the state, the e-KYC process has been completed for 2,69,23,830. During the verification, names of deceased beneficiaries were removed, and new eligible beneficiaries will be added. The minister assured that new ration cards would be issued to deserving families to ensure food security.
Patra emphasized that the process would be continuous.
Additionally, the state has received 6,19,836 new applications for ration cards, which are being processed to include qualified applicants. The government has also established 10 parameters for the enrolment and issuance of new ration cards to streamline the process.
Odisha removes over 1 lakh ghost ration card holders from PDS database
