Non-Aadhaar beneficiaries will not be denied foodgrains, assures Centre

The Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ministry on Monday issued a clarification to all the State saying that no beneficiary or household will be denied the entitled quantity of food grains, nor will their ration cards be canceled for not having an Aadhaar number.

In a release, the Ministry said that the deadline given to the states and union territories to issue Aadhaar numbers with all ration cardholders or beneficiaries has been extended up to September 30, 2020.

"Until then, Department has issued clear instructions to all states/UTs vide letters dated October 24, 2017, and November 8, 2018, that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be denied from the entitled quota of food grains or their names/ration cards shall not be deleted/canceled only on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number," the release said.

The Ministry has also instructed that the food grains under National Food Security Act (NFSA) will not be denied due to the failure of biometric or Aadhaar authentication of the beneficiary.

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Nearly 90 per cent ration cards linked to Aadhaar numbers

The release said, as a result of continuous efforts of the central and state governments, nearly 90 per cent of 23.5 crore ration cards have been linked with the Aadhaar numbers. Almost 85 per cent of all 80 crore beneficiaries have also linked their Aadhaar number with their respective ration cards.  All concerned states and UTs have taken steps to complete the Aadhaar seeding of remaining ration cards and beneficiaries under NFSA.

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The department has started implementing national or inter-state portability of NFSA ration card holders under the "One Nation One Ration Card" plan. As part of a central sector scheme on 'Integrated Management of Public Distribution System', the move aims to protect the interest of poor and beneficiaries who migrate from one place to the other, the release said.

"To achieve seamless inter-state portability transactions of a ration card, it is essential to have a centralized repository for maintaining unique ration cards/beneficiaries data of all states and UTs covered under NFSA.

Therefore, seeding of Aadhaar numbers becomes critical in establishing a unique record of each eligible ration cardholder or beneficiary under NFSA in the country so that their entitlement is protected," it added.

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(With inputs from ANI)

(Image credits: PTI File photo)