Over 40 Lakh Ghost Ration Card Holders Availing Govt Benefits, Says Odisha Minister

Bhubaneswar: More than 40 lakh ghost ration card holders have been identified in the state so far, said Odisha’s Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra on Friday.

Speaking to media persons in Bhubaneswar, Patra said the state government had launched e-KYC to identify fake PDS card holders. During the process, 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh ghost beneficiaries have been identified. The total number of such ghost card holders has already crossed 40 lakh, he added.

“These fake card holders have been availing the benefits of government schemes for a long time. Those include the cards of deceased persons. After coming to power, our government took the initiative to identify such beneficiaries,” the minister said.

He further said like fake ration card holders, there were ghost farmers also. Though they are non-farmers, they have fraudulently registered themselves as farmers.

“These ghost farmers buy paddy from original farmers at a lower price before procurement process begins and then sell those at  MSP rate to reap the benefit without really doing any farm work,” he added.

Stating that the government was taking steps to identify such fake farmers, he said necessary action would be taken to prevent registration of non-farmers during paddy procurement.