Ration cards to be linked to UID to check rice scheme misuse

As the supply of quality rice at Re 1 per kg under the “Anna Bhagya Yojane” is scheduled to start from July 10, the State government is focusing on checking the misuse of the subsidised rice, especially diversion to the blackmarket, under the public distribution system (PDS).

Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters here on Friday that the department is taking steps to link all ration cards to Unique Identity (UID) numbers which is currently being given by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI). But, he did not reveal whether the department would set any deadline for the ration card holders to furnish UID numbers.

Linking ration card to UID will help the department to weed out bogus ration cards. Currently, the state has 1.33 crore ration cards, including 86.89 lakhs BPL, 34.26 lakhs APL and 11.16 lakhs AYY cards. The Re one per kg rice scheme is meant only for BPL and AYY card holders. However, the Planning Commission has estimated the BPL families to be about 32 lakhs in the State.

Electronic weighing

The department has decided to install electronic weighing machines at all fair price shops in a phased manner. Districts of Mysore, Tumkur, Dharwad, Belgaum and one of the zones in Bangalore will be covered in the first phase.

The machines operate on biometric system and there is little scope for misuse of food grains at the fair price shop level. These machines, also called e-paditara, will be installed at all the godowns, he added.

Rao said vigilance committees will be set up from state to taluk levels to keep a watch on diversion of food grains. A kg of rice being given under the scheme carries a subsidy of Rs 26.

The government will give 10 kg of rice per person and a maximum of 30 per kg per family under the scheme. The burden on the government for implementing the scheme this year is Rs 4,300 crore. “I think, bringing rice is not a big task.  Distributing it properly to the needy is a big challenge,” he stated.

The minister said the department has received close to 12 lakh applications seeking new ration cards, including nine lakh BPL cards.

The applications will be verified thoroughly by conducting field inspections. The department is thinking whether it should stop receiving new applications till the verification process is completed. But, the a decision has not been taken in this regard, he added.

Rao said the department has decided to strictly collect levy rice from this year.
The Centre has fixed the levy percentage at 33.33 per cent. But, it is not practical to collect at this rate. So, the entire levy system will be revised soon, he added.
Food Bill Ordinance

He said State will benefit immensely once the Food Security Bill is implemented. Currently, the Centre is providing rice for 32 lakh BPL families though the State has a total 87 lakh BPL families.

Once the bill is implemented, the State’s quota of rice under BPL will almost double. Besides, the Centre will provided rice at a lesser price, he added.

No wheat supply under PDS for now

Rao said the state government wants to supply ragi and jowar under the PDS system, but it is concerned that any move to buy huge quantity of these food grains would upset the market.

“We understand that food habits change from region to region. We want to supply what people want. But, we fear that intervention by the government may upset the market,” he stated.

On the department's decision to discontinue supplying wheat under the PDS, he said if there is a demand for wheat, then the department is ready to supply it at Re 1 per kg. But from this month, wheat will not be supplied, he added.