Large scale irregularities have come to light under the free ration scheme in the country’s capital Delhi. An investigation by the Food and Supplies Department has revealed that about 6.52 lakh beneficiaries have been found ineligible.
These beneficiaries are about 10% of the total 72.77 lakh beneficiaries. These also include people who have private vehicles, valuable land in the city, pay income tax or are directors of a registered company.
Who all were found ineligible?
According to data from the department…
- 95,741 beneficiaries have private cars, they have also been found ineligible for this.
- Apart from this, 2.80 lakh people who are land owners, income tax payers or directors of any company are also ineligible for this scheme.
- 89,084 duplicate beneficiaries have also been found in the investigation whose names are registered in ration cards in more than one state.
- Apart from this, there are 1.84 lakh silent beneficiaries who are not taking ration for more than 6 months and have not even completed e-KYC.
Duplicate and fake beneficiaries also came forward
Officials said that a large number of people are taking advantage of ration cards in more than one state. For example, a family was taking ration from both Bihar and Delhi. After investigation, it has been recommended to remove 27,745 duplicate names. At the same time, 41,181 beneficiaries were retained in Delhi.
The deceased and those over 100 years of age are also on the list
The department has also received the names of about 10,000 deceased beneficiaries. Also, there are 1,033 such names registered whose age is stated to be between 100 and 120 years. All these will be removed from the list.
Why is this action being taken?
There are currently 17.46 lakh ration card holders in Delhi. Out of which 16.80 lakh are priority families and 66,150 come under Antyodaya Anna Yojana. AAY families get 35 kg of grains every month, while PHH card holders get 5 kg of grains per member. Free ration is being given for 5 years under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana from January 2024. But the benefit of the scheme should be given only to those whose annual income is less than one lakh. For this purpose, the central government started the ration card verification campaign across the country in July 2023, which was rapidly implemented in Delhi from January.
E-KYC and on-ground verification
Officials said that till now e-KYC of about 80% ration card holders of Delhi has been completed. The names of those who have not done e-KYC can also be removed from the list, the department has sent the list of people found ineligible to the local food supply officers and inspectors so that investigation can be done at the ground level.
Government’s claim
Delhi’s Food and Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the government is committed to ensure that no eligible family is deprived of their entitled ration. He said that the verification process is going on and we are making the system more transparent so that the benefits of the scheme reach only the right and genuine people.
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