In seven years 43.9 million ghost ration cards disappear.
The Union government has weeded out an estimated 43.9 million bogus ration cards since 2013 for rightful targeting of beneficiaries under NFSA-Department of Food & Public Distribution.
As part technology-driven PDS reforms across the country to modernise the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and to improve the transparency and efficiency in its operations through digitisation of ration card or beneficiaries databases, Aadhaar seeding, detection of ineligible or bogus ration cards, de-duplication of digitised data, migration or deaths of beneficiaries and during the run-up to the implementation of NFSA.
Further, the respective quota of NFSA coverage thus released, is being regularly utilised by concerned State/ and Union Territories for the ‘Rightful Targeting’ of beneficiaries under NFSA i.e. inclusion or exclusion of other genuine and rightfully eligible beneficiaries or households by issuing new ration cards to them, while remaining within the respective ceiling limits of coverage defined for each States/UT under the Act.
The NFSA provides coverage for 813.50 million persons to receive highly subsidised foodgrains through TPDS, which is nearly two-third of the country’s population as per the Census of 2011. Presently, more than 800 million people in the country receive foodgrains like rice, wheat and coarse grains at highly subsidised Central Issue Prices of Rs 3, 2 and 1 per Kg respectively under NFSA, on monthly basis.
