e-KYC for ration cards to weed out bogus holders

In an attempt to weed out fraudulent claims for ration card, the state government has directed all fair price shops to ensure e-KYC of citizens is done in the next two months.

These shops will function on all holidays, including Sundays and will be closed only on Tuesdays, Food and Civil Supplies Minister K Gopalaiah said.

The state government is tackling the problem of bogus card holders and officials hope that the e-KYC process will help them identify those fraudulently holding these cards. As on date, as many as 63,923 cards have been annulled after they were found fraudulent, the minister said.

Gopalaiah was interacting with media persons after a daylong meeting with all the district officials concerned. “Over the next two months, I urge the public to surrender ration cards if they are not eligible for it,” Gopalaiah said, adding that penalty will be levied on ineligible persons obtaining ration at subsidised rates. Officials have already imposed a penalty of Rs 96 lakh on people who were holding cards while being ineligible, the minister said.

According to data available with the department, there are 1.15 crore BPL ration cards, covering a population of 3.82 crore. There are 20.28 lakh non-priority household cards (APL) covering a population of 72.32 lakh and 10.94 lakh cards under Antyodaya scheme, covering 46.57 lakh population.

In all, of the 6.41 crore population of the state, 4.29 crore have been issued ration cards under National Food Security Act, 2013. According to officials in the department, about 44% of the ration cards have been linked to Aadhaar.