Bhubaneswar, December 3: Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra on Wednesday informed the Odisha Assembly that the ongoing State-wide e-KYC verification drive to weed out ineligible beneficiaries from the Public Distribution System (PDS) will continue till December 31.
Under the exercise, so far, a total of 6,83,995 ghost ration cards, belonging to deceased beneficiaries, have been identified and cancelled. Similarly, 33,128 ineligible ration-card holders have been removed affecting 1,20,199 family members from the food security scheme, the Minister told the House in a written reply.
Highest 4,747 ineligible ration cards have been identified in Khurda district followed by Cuttack with 2,905 cards and Sundergarh with 2,357.
In another written reply, the Minister told the House that “Since June 2024, a total of 15,33,153 applications for ration cards were received. Out of 15,33,153 applications, 3,23,145 applications, with a total family member of 6,39,827, were found eligible after field verification and have been included under the Food Security Scheme.”
“As many as 7,37,530 applications have been rejected as per the guidelines of the Odisha State Food Security (Targeted Public Distribution System) Rules, 2020,” the Minister told the House.
The Minister further disclosed in the House that a total of 4,72,478 applications are being examined in block and ULB levels following which eligible beneficiaries will be included in the food security scheme.
