Amid intense debate over the deletion of fake ration cards, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday said that an exercise has been started to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries benefit under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and the undeserving are weeded out.

As the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) is aggressively raking up the issue of deleting at least 1.5 lakh ration cards of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, the government on Sunday said that no such order has been issued.

Quoting a report tabled in the Parliament, the government said that 1.27 lakh ration cards were deleted in an exercise to identify fake and duplicate beneficiaries. "Process to delete fake and duplicate ration cards was started in 2013 and the deletions carried out in the past, over 10 years in J&K as a part of reforms pursued by the Government of India across the country," an official spokesperson of the said.

The report tabled in the Parliament added that the elimination of bogus/duplicate ration cards and beneficiaries is an essential requirement under the TPDS control order of the Government of India, which is now being established through technology interventions like Aadhaar seeding, eKYC, and field verification.

"As a result of accelerated Aadhaar seeding, pursued by the Department, huge duplication of ration cards and beneficiaries was established leading to deletion of such ration cards and beneficiaries over the years," the spokesperson said.

8.6 lakh additional beneficiaries added to PDS in J&K

At the same time, bringing the left-out eligible beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS) cover has also been seriously pursued by the government, and this effort has also led to the addition of 8.6 lakh eligible beneficiaries to PDS in since shifting to a dependable Ration Card Management System in September 2022.

Further, it is clarified that only the order issued by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department in the recent past in the context of PDS seeks the inclusion of children born during the years 2011 to 2016 in their family ration cards so that additional benefits flow to these beneficiaries and households as per eligibility under PDS.

The government has also issued explicit orders for prompt inclusion of any eligible beneficiary still left out under PDS, wherever reported. As a result of these efforts the number of beneficiaries under NFSA, who are provided free food grains every month, has gone up from 66.37 lakh to 66.59 lakh during the last three months.

PDP rakes up issue of ration card deletion to corner the government

A day after the date of fake ration cards was tabled in the Parliament, the PDP seized this opportunity to corner Omar Abdullah's government for depriving BPL families of their rights to get subsidized ration.

PDP leader Iltija Mufti accused the Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kasmir Government of deleting at least 1.5 lakh ration cards.

Speaking to reporters on the "Cancellation of BPL rations cards", Iltija Mufti said, "The new government had in their election manifesto promised to provide 10 kilograms floor and rice for free for every month."

The PDP leader asked the NC government, "If you cannot provide anything to people, then do not snatch either. You have at least cancelled 1.5 lakh ration cards. Each ration card has at least 6 family members. You are witnessing the number of families getting affected."

5.87 crore fake ration cards were deleted in the whole country

On December 17, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya informed the Rajya Sabha that over 5.87 crore fake ration cards have been cancelled during the digitization and re-verification process spanning 2013-2024.

The highest number of 1,93,54,572 fake ration cards were detected in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 85,59,560 in West Bengal, 46, 12,756 in Maharashtra and 43, 68, 125 in Andra Pradesh.

As per the data shared by the Minister, 1,27,872 such fake and duplicate ration cards were deleted in Jammu and Kashmir from 2013 to 2024.

The Union Government has requested all state governments and Union Territory administrations to expedite the eKYC process," the Minister said.

"At present, 99.8% of ration cards under PMGKAY have been seeded with the Aadhaar number of at least one member of the beneficiary household," the Minister further said.

"As an outcome of the use of technology in Targeted Public Distribution System operations since 2013, i.e., digitization of ration cards/beneficiary databases, Aadhaar seeding, de-duplication process, identification of duplicates, ineligible records, deaths, permanent migration of beneficiaries, etc. all states and union territories have been able to weed-out approximately. 5.87 crore ration cards between 201 3 to 2024 in order to achieve rightful targeting," the Minister said.