The Maharashtra government will soon implement the Aadhaar card-linked biometric system at fair-price shops to curb black marketing. The state government will roll out a biometric identification plan across the state over the next six months, the estimated cost of which is around Rs 200 crore, said Girish Bapat, minister for civil supplies, food and consumer affairs.
“We are strictly against black marketing and the outflow of food grain and kerosene. The Maharashtra government is spending Rs 11,000 crore on distributing food grains and kerosene to below-poverty-line (BPL) people,” Mr Bapat said.
However, food grain and kerosene worth approximately Rs 2,500-3,000 crore do not reach the beneficiaries and vanish from the market, he said. Therefore, to eliminate fraud, the government will introduce the Aadhaar-card-linked biometric procedure at fair-price shops as well, Mr Bapat said.
In Maharashtra, there are around 22.5 million yellow and saffron ration card holders. Ration card holders are divided into three categories. Families with a yearly income below Rs 15,000 are given yellow ration cards and are entitled to maximum benefits under the public distribution system (PDS). Families with an income that is above Rs 15,000 but below Rs 1 lakh are given a saffron ration cards, while families with income above Rs 1 lakh per annum are given white ration cards. Holders of white ration cards are not eligible for subsidised items and the card is largely used as a document for identification.
On an average, every month, 3,75,000 tonnes of grain, 85,569 tonnes of sugar and 61,000 kilolitres (one kilolitre is a 1,000 litres) of kerosene are distributed in Maharashtra through the PDS.