The Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs in Jammu and Kashmir has denied false reports on social media that claimed the government canceled 1.5 lakh BPL ration cards. These claims are not true, and no such order was given.
The department explained that they have been removing fake and duplicate ration cards as part of a cleanup effort over the past ten years. This is to make sure the right people get help through India’s Targeted Public Distribution System (PDS).
They use technology like Aadhaar seeding and eKYC to find and remove duplicate cards. At the same time, they are adding eligible people to the PDS. Since September 2022, they have added 8.6 lakh new beneficiaries.
Recently, they included children born between 2011 and 2016 in family ration cards to give those families extra benefits. They are also working to include any eligible people who might be left out.
Now, more people are getting free food grains each month under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The number has grown from 66.37 lakh to 66.59 lakh in the last three months. They are also making sure people registered on the e-Shram Portal are included in the PDS.
The department checked data for nearly 34.80 lakh e-Shram registrants in Jammu and Kashmir. About 34.40 lakh people are now receiving benefits. The remaining 40,000 could not be found or didn’t share their details.
The department promises to provide free food grains every month to 66.59 lakh beneficiaries under the NFSA and subsidized food grains to another 31.81 lakh people. This means 98.40 lakh people benefit from the PDS every month in Jammu and Kashmir.
In summary, the department says using technology like Aadhaar seeding helps ensure that the right people get their fair share of rations. They will keep working to serve all eligible beneficiaries while excluding those who aren’t eligible.
