Govt Officials Visit Ration Cardholders For e-KYC Verification As Odisha Sets Jan 15 Deadline

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has set January 15 deadline for completing Aadhaar-based e-KYC verification of ration cards in circulation, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra informed on Wednesday.

“Government officials have been instructed to visit people, especially elderly and those keeping unwell, for e-KYC verification within the state and also those residing elsewhere in the country. Recently, a team travelled to Goa to facilitate the process after the department received a call from some labourers there,” he told reporters.

Patra said that e-KYC verification has been completed for 85 per cent of ration card holders. “More than 50 lakh individuals are yet come for verification,” he informed.

The initiative was introduced by the BJP-led government to bring in greater transparency and weed out ineligible persons from the food security programme as allegations of ghost” beneficiaries and card misuse plagued the Public Distribution System (PDS) for years. The ration cardholders were advised to complete their Aadhaar seeding and KYC verification through e-PoS (point of sale) machines at PDS dealers point, failing which their cards will be rejected.

Logistical issues and accessibility challenges, however, have slowed the progress.

In December, Patra had informed that over 40 lakh ghost beneficiaries have so far been detected in Odisha during the e-KYC verification. On an average, 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh ghost beneficiaries per district were found.

He had earlier mentioned that  e-KYC verification of about three-and-half crore people of the state covered under National Food Security Act will be conducted.