New Delhi
The Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution recently informed that the ration cards of all 20.4 crore families covering 80.6 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act have been digitalized. In this, 99.8 percent ration cards and 98.7 percent individual beneficiaries have been linked to Aadhaar, so that the shortcomings in the delivery system can be removed. The national portability of ration cards under the One Nation One Ration Card initiative has ensured regular availability and accessibility of free food grains to all beneficiaries located in any part of the country through the same existing ration card, the official statement said. Food grains are being distributed through 5.33 lakh e-POS devices covering almost all fair price shops in the country.
These e-POS devices enable Aadhaar authentication of beneficiaries during the distribution process. Today Aadhaar authentication is used to distribute about 98 percent of the total food grains, eliminating ineligible beneficiaries and reducing any risk of pilferage. End-to-end operation and service at all levels of Food Corporation of India (FCI) organization, development of Central Food Procurement Portal, implementation of warehouse inventory network and governing system application for tagging mills with depots, stack space in FCI Allocation of Rs., Integration of Vehicle Location Tracking System with Railways for online real-time tracking of food consignments and Warehousing Development of all FCI warehouses and Supply chain management system has also been adopted and integrated for regulatory authority registration.
The government has also taken extensive steps to ensure right targeting through the process of eKYC, which verifies the identity of beneficiaries with their Aadhaar and ration card details thereby eliminating ineligible beneficiaries. EKYC of 64 percent of all Public Distribution System beneficiaries has been done while the process of completing eKYC of the remaining beneficiaries is going on at a fast pace. For the convenience of the beneficiaries, the department has provided the facility of eKYC of the beneficiary at any fair price shop (ration shop) across the country. Digitization and Aadhaar seeding has eliminated duplication of ration cards and approximately 5.8 crore ration cards have been removed from the PDS system, ensuring that only eligible individuals are included in PMGKAY/NFSA. “Through digitalisation, right targeting and supply chain innovations, the Government of India has set global benchmarks for state-sponsored food security initiatives,” the statement said. These measures of the Government of India underline the commitment of the Government of India to prevent food grain manipulation and efficient operation of the system.”