Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has removed a total of 4,95,951 dead and ineligible beneficiaries from the public distribution system (PDS) during the ongoing e-KYC (know your customer) verification process, a minister told the assembly Wednesday.
While replying to a query by Congress MLA Sofia Firdous, state Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra said the e-KYC verification drive commenced across the state in August-September 2024. A total of 4,08,107 death cases have been detected from the commencement of the drive to March 12 this year.
Those names have been deleted from the ration card database, he said.
Similarly, a total number of 23,138 ineligible ration cards comprising 87,844 members have been identified through field verification across Odisha, based on 10 exclusion criteria notified in the Odisha State Food Security (Targeted) Rules, 2020, and excluded from the database, Patra said.
The officials conducting field verification in the blocks and ULBs (urban local bodies) have been instructed to strictly follow the beneficiaries’ eligibility criteria notified in the rules, he said.
“The state government is committed not to deprive eligible beneficiaries of the ration cards,” the minister said.
In another written statement, Patra said out of 3.30 crore beneficiaries, 3.01 crore (91 per cent) beneficiaries have completed their e-KYC verification, while a massive awareness drive is being undertaken at the district levels for e-KYC verification of the remaining 29,16,866 beneficiaries by March 31, 2025, he added.
Till March 12 this year, the government has received 6,80,673 applications for inclusion of 13,77,675 members in the PDS and the field-level verification of the applicants is going on at block and ULB level, Patra informed the House.
After completion of the verification process, steps will be taken to include the eligible people, under the food security scheme, he added.
PTI