Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has removed the names of 3,90,814 dead and ineligible beneficiaries from the public distribution system (PDS) during the ongoing e-KYC verification process, a minister told the assembly on Wednesday.
Replying to a query by Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, food supplies and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra said, “During the e-KYC process, names of 3,28,932 deceased persons have been deleted from the ration card database.”
Similarly, 61,882 ineligible beneficiaries of 16,184 ration cards have been identified through field verification and deleted from the database so far, Patra added.
According to data provided by the minister, names of 6,003 ineligible beneficiaries were detected in Nayagarh district, followed by Cuttack (5,154), Balasore (4,748), Mayurbhanj district (4,403), Khurda (3,783), and Puri (3,009).
In another written statement, Patra said, “So far, 2.99 crore beneficiaries have completed the e-KYC of their ration cards, while 32,82,491 are yet to get their e-KYC done.”
Steps are being taken to make e-KYC mandatory during the digitisation of new ration cards, along with cross-examination of new applicants with other exclusion criteria, he said while replying to a question by Congress MLA Sofia Firdous.
“The e-KYC verification of the remaining beneficiaries is expected to be completed by March,” he said.
However, all the existing beneficiaries in the database, irrespective of their e-KYC verification status, are being provided a ration. “No beneficiary will be deprived of their foodgrain quota due to want of e-KYC,” the minister clarified.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJD and Congress demanded that the ration cards of poor and small traders should not be deleted from the list.
Speaking outside the House, BJD legislator Goutam Buddha Das said, “Deletion of dead beneficiaries and inclusion of new people is a continuous process. However, in the name of e-KYC verification, the government is creating trouble for the people,” he said.
“Those who are staying outside Odisha are facing a lot of problems with KYC verification. We want to alert the government that they should not delete the eligible persons from the PDS,” Das said.
Similarly, Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “We welcome the move to delete the names of deceased beneficiaries from the ration card list. However, small-time traders and shopkeepers who are filing zero IT returns only to get bank loans should not be removed from the list.”
“Some beneficiaries died four or five years ago, but the government has been providing the rice quota. After an inquiry, it can be ascertained who was taking the rice. During the last 24 years of BJD rule, there was huge corruption, which came to the fore now,” the minister told reporters outside the assembly.
“Some income taxpayers are also availing free rice. Notices have been issued to them. After physical verification, the ineligible persons will be removed,” he added.
PTI
