13493 - ‘2.62 cr. bogus ration cards unearthed’ - The Hindu

‘2.62 cr. bogus ration cards unearthed’

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, MAY 08, 2018 01:17 IST

10 lakh cards have been detected in T.N. alone, says Paswan

Linking of the Aadhaar number with ration cards has helped the Centre to unearth 2.62 crore bogus ration cards across the country and save ₹17,000 crore annually, according to Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan.

In Tamil Nadu, 10 lakh fake ration cards were unearthed, he said after a review meeting with Food Corporation of India and State government officials here.

Mr. Paswan also noted that in Tamil Nadu, Aadhaar seeding of 6.39 crore people has been completed.

Under the National Food Securities Act (NFSA), foodgrains are distributed through State governments at reduced rates. Rice and wheat are offered at the rate of ₹2 and ₹3, respectively; however, the Tamil Nadu government is providing these grains for free.

“There are total 34,773 ration shops in the State. All the ration shops in urban areas are distributing food grains through digital E-POS machines so that the benefit of the scheme reaches the bonafide beneficiaries only,” he said.

The procurement of paddy in the State, which started from October 1, 2017, will continue till June this year. For this, 886 purchase centres had been set up across the State by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, Mr. Paswan said.

During the 2017-18 kharif marketing season, a total of 10.41 lakh tonnes of paddy was purchased from 2,88,116 farmers (as on May 3, 2018).

An estimated 7 lakh tonnes of rice was expected out of the paddy procured, he added.

Mr. Paswan also said that the Centre was committed to protecting the rights of SC/ST people and would bring an Ordinance if the Supreme Court did not change its ruling on the SC/ST Act.

Similarly, an Ordinance would be brought to ensure reservation for scheduled castes and tribes in promotion in government jobs, he added.

10577 - Aadhaar seeding weeds out fake ration cards - Deccan Herald

Aadhaar seeding weeds out fake ration cards

New Delhi, November 6, 2016, DHNS:

2.62 crore fake ration cards weeded out due to digitisation

Digitisation of public distribution scheme records has led to weeding out of 2.62 crore fake ration cards from across the country thus helping the government to plug leakage of highly subsidised foodgrain.

Of the 2.62 crore fake ration cards, 65.54 lakh were detected and deleted in Karnataka alone, followed by 31 lakh in Maharashtra, Consumer Affairs Minister Ramvilas Paswan said here.

Kerala, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Meghalaya virtually had no fake ration cards at present.

The deletion of fake ration cards was possible after the government decided to link the same with Aadhaar numbers.

The success in deleting fake ration cards has prompted the government to speed up the process of linking all such documents with Aadhaar numbers.

“So far, 71% of ration cards have been linked with Aadhaar numbers,” Paswan said.

Andhra Pradesh had 9.76 lakh fake ration cards, Rajasthan (13.23 lakh), Chhatisgarh (10.1 lakh), Tamil Nadu (3.7 lakh) and Madhya Pradesh (1.09 lakh).

Paswan said along with Aadhaar linkage, the government was also aiming for 

end-to-end computerisation in the implementation of the National Food Security Act.

The government had carried out direct benefit transfer in Chandigarh, Puducherry and urban areas of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In this case, food subsidy is being transferred to the bank account of the beneficiary who then have the choice to buy foodgrain from the open market.

The government was also focusing on the automation of fair price shops for distribution of foodgrain through an electronic point of sale device which would authenticate the beneficiaries at the time of sale.

10552 - Shocking misuse of Aadhaar cards - Deccan Herald

Shocking misuse of Aadhaar cards

Oct 21, 2016, DHNS

Alarm bells must have started ringing in the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the food and civil supplies ministries of various state governments after the Civil Supplies Department of Karnataka unearthed last week a racket linking fictitious Aadhaar numbers to generate thousands of bogus BPL cards. 

The scandal came to light when senior department officials raided fair price shops in Bengaluru. It was found that invalid 12-digit numbers were linked with bogus ration cards while in other specific cases, single Aadhaar numbers were seeded with multiple fake cards. Random checking in Bengaluru alone has so far revealed 45,000 bogus cards belonging to about 300 ration shops, and similar reports have trickled in from other parts of Karnataka like Mysuru, Hubballi, Dharwad and Tumakuru. 

The Karnataka government has begun filing criminal cases in what appears to be only a tip of the iceberg. It should be a matter of enormous concern to the Centre because the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has identified Aadhaar as the single most effective tool to deliver food grains, fertilizers, kerosene and LPG subsidies to target beneficiaries with minimum leakage. About 60% of all ration cards across the country have already been linked to Aadhaar and the Centre had claimed recently that the government had made a saving of Rs 13,000 crore after detection of 2.16 crore bogus cards. A confidential study made by the PMO had revealed that out of Rs 2.11 lakh crore spent on various subsidies, there could be a net saving of Rs 33,000 crore by way of plugging leakages.

While other states will hopefully take a cue from Karnataka and conduct their own investigation on possible misuse of Aadhaar numbers, reports from across the country suggest that efforts to eliminate or minimise the gross plundering of PDS are far from a success. Lakhs of fake ration cards have been reported from Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. Chhattisgarh was touted as a ‘model state’ until recently as it was the first to fully implement Aadhaar-based biometric authentication. It involved installing point of sale machines at every ration shop for verifying the identity of cardholders by matching their finger-prints against Aadhaar database. But, last month, the anti-corruption bureau of the state conducted raids in several places and seized cash and documents showing coded diary entries of payoffs to officials and politicians. The Congress has accused the Raman Singh government of indulging in a multi-crore scam, but the chief minister has denied it. The Centre itself should get involved in the investigation of misuse of Aadhaar cards, as its stakes are pretty high, with the Supreme Court yet to give its consent to make it a mandatory document.

10263 - Fake ration card complaints coming from entire State: Food Minister Dhurve - Hitavada

Fake ration card complaints coming from entire State: Food Minister Dhurve

Source: The Hitavada       Date: 21 Jul 2016 16:06:36 Staff Reporter, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Omprakash Dhurve accepted in Assembly that complaints of fake ration cards are coming from entire State and it is due to this reason that Aadhaar card has been made mandatory. Dhurve gave this statement while replying to a question asked by Ashok Rohani. Rohani wanted to know that what is the number of registered cardholders, who are living under BPL category in Jabalpur district. How much ration had been allotted by Government. In answer, Dhurve replied that there are 3,00,291 BPL families in Jabalpur district. Meanwhile, Rohani sought to know that how many times one has to give Samagra ID and Aadhaar card for verification. Dhurve said Aadhaar card has to be given only once. Rohani was of the view that even after having the eligibility slip, people are not getting the ration and requested the minister to issue directives to the Collector in this regard. Omprakash Dhurve assured to issue the directive to the Collector, but with a rider that beneficiary shall have the Aadhaar card. Home Minister forms team to investigate murder cases: Home Minister Bhupendra Singh assured the Assembly to form a team led by ADG (CID) to investigate the three murders, which took place in Podi village of Nagodh in 2014-15. He also accepted that there was negligence in the probe of the case from the start itself. He was replying to the question asked by Yadvendra Singh. Sisodia demands ban on chemical-laced fruits: MLA Yashpal Singh Sisodia demanded during Zero Hour in Assembly that chemical laced fruits be banned in State. He said that chemical-laced fruits coming from overseas are being sold in markets of Madhya Pradesh. Family members of patients purchase these fruits, including apple, at higher rates and give to the patient and also consume themselves. He said that it is necessary that such fruits be washed in hot water before use, but in the absence of awareness, people are using these fruits by simply washing with cold water and sometimes, they use them directly. Owing to this reason, health of people is affected adversely.

10249 - Government plans crackdown on fake subsidy A/Cs - New Indian Express

Government plans crackdown on fake subsidy A/Cs

By Prashant Mukherjee

Published: 19th July 2016 06:52 AM

NEW DELHI: The government is all set to crack down on duplicate and bogus accounts to which subsidies are being transferred.

In a major nation-wide drive for better distribution of target subsidies, the Finance Ministry has asked all states and Union Territories (UTs) to clamp down on various duplicate and fictitious accounts and submit an action taken report within three months on them. 

“We have asked different states to weed out all fradulent beneficiaries claiming for various subsidies to ensure the entire distribution is without any leakage,” a senior finance ministry official said. The ministry has advised states to be more pro-active and use technology, as well as the Aadhaar database.

DBT allows the transfer of subsidies to bank accounts of beneficiaries, who then buy food from the open market. Automation ensures foodgrains are distributed via ration shops through point-of-sale (PoS) devices that authenticate beneficiaries and record the quantity of subsidized grains given to a family.

“The focus will be now on to the states to administer the intent of the policy, and through the use of technology and Aadhaar, they should weed out duplicate and bogus ration cards and accounts,” the official added.

The conventional subsidy bill - which includes fertiliser, food and petroleum subsidy - would be Rs 2.44 lakh crore or 1.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2015-16. “The rationalisation and re-priortisation of subsidies through better targeting would play a vital role in fiscal consolidation and in targeting expenditure towards inclusive development,” the Economic Survey said in its report.

The National Payments Corporation of India undertakes around 3.5 million transfers through the platform every day, out of which most are LPG transfers. The option of subsidy transfer through non-Aadhaar based channel is also available. Here the attached bank accounts get money through National Electronic Funds Transfer.

The government has already been successful in weeding out duplicated accounts in a limited way., saving around Rs 36,500 crore in the process. The Pahal-DBT scheme of oil ministry reportedly had 3.5 crore duplicate beneficiaries, which have since been identified and blocked.

10136 - Fine for substandard goods hiked to 1 cr - TNN

Fine for substandard goods hiked to 1 cr

TNN | Jun 14, 2016, 02.07 AM IST

Bengaluru : The Centre has increased the penalty for supplying substandard consumer goods from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore, said Union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday. 

With the amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, aggrieved consumers can approach the district sessions court to file complaints which can levy a fine up to Rs 1 crore. At the state-level, the court can levy penalty up to Rs 10 crore on individuals and companies who have violated consumer rights, Paswan said.

The government has decided to import pulses to address acute shortage in the country, he added. 

Minister of state for food and civil supplies Dinesh Gundu Rao said the government will announce a rewards scheme to check black marketeering and the menace of fake ration cards. The scheme will be implemented after completion of mapping of ration cards with Aadhaar numbers. June 30 is the last date for submitting Aadhaar card numbers to the department.

He said the government will offer Rs 400 to citizens giving information on every fake ration card and five per cent of the value of foodgrains which have been hoarded in the black market.

9113 - Food insecurity: Fake ration cards stump PDS dealers in Jharkhand - Hindustan Times

Food insecurity: Fake ration cards stump PDS dealers in Jharkhand

• Sanjoy Dey, Hindustan Times, Ranchi |  Updated: Nov 28, 2015 11:03 IST

Jharkhand rolled out the ambitious NFSA in haste from October 1 this year, entitling more than 2.33 crore people of the state’s total 3.29 crore population to 5 kg rice and wheat every month at the subsidised rate of Re 1. Photo for representative purpose. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The Jharkhand government’s hastily rolled out National Food Security Act (NFSA) suffered a major blow after several incidents of multiple fake ration cards being issued to the same person surfaced, creating a dilemma for dealers under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Jharkhand rolled out the ambitious NFSA in haste from October 1 this year, entitling more than 2.33 crore people of the state’s total 3.29 crore population to 5 kg rice and wheat every month at the subsidised rate of Re 1.

With alleged pressure from the state government, the Department of Food and Public Distribution prepared and digitised ration cards in haste to set the scheme rolling. As a result, thousands of fake cards were released without check.

The extent of the problem can be gauged from the case of Chittaranjan Mahto, a resident of Bundu block in Ranchi district, in whose name 366 ration cards had inadvertently been issued by the district supply office, which entitled him to an extraordinary 1,830 kg of food grains from five different PDS dealers a month.

However, Ranchi supply officer Manoj Kumar termed it a technical error: “We have withheld the excess cards. In bulk publication of ration cards, there is always a chance of error of at least 5%.”

Mahto is not the only one to have multiple cards issued — there are thousands of beneficiaries in Jharkhand under the newly introduced NFSA who are enjoying more than one ration card in their name. The Ranchi district supply office alone has reportedly prepared 7,000 duplicate cards.

“We are really confused. Some of the beneficiaries are holding more than one card with different serial numbers. We lift food grain on the basis of ration cards registered with us. Now, we are in dilemma whether a beneficiary will get ration for one or more cards,” said Sanjay Kundu, a PDS dealer in Ranchi.

Kundu, also the state general secretary of Fair Price Dealers Association, added that fake ration cards have deprived many genuine beneficiaries of their rights.

Sexagenarian Lajrus Bara, a rickshaw puller, is one such victim. A resident of Ward No 10 in Ranchi, Bara was a Below Poverty Line (BPL) cardholder under the previous system. However, he is left running from pillar to post to get the digitised card under the new system.

Gopinath Ghosh, a Ranchi-based human rights activist, said, “We have hundreds of names of such people who had BPL cards in the earlier system but are not even enrolled under the NFSA.”

The department of food and civil supplies has so far detected more than 17,000 fake ration cards just from Hazaribag and Ranchi districts. “The fault was detected by our team and we have restricted the distribution of duplicate cards. More than 10,000 such cards were withheld in Hazaribag. Other districts have also detected such faults,” department secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey said.

The department is now linking ration cards to Aadhaar card numbers to eliminate duplicity. “We have linked around 70 lakh beneficiaries with Aadhaar, though the process has partially slowed down due to the ongoing panchayat election,” Choubey said.

8257 - Centre's reply sought on PIL claiming issuance of fake ration cards - Economic Times

Centre's reply sought on PIL claiming issuance of fake ration cards

PTI Jul 8, 2015, 07.15PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today sought response of the Centre and city government on a plea alleging that illegal ration cards were being issued on "bogus identities" created by using Aadhaar numbers of genuine persons.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice G P Mittal issued notice to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as well as Delhi government and sought their replies by August 12 on the PIL which has claimed that use of the illegal ration cards has caused loss of thousands of crores to the public exchequer.

The court also asked the ministry to inform it on the next date as to what was the situation in other states.

The bench was hearing the petition filed by Shyam Sunder, who runs a book shop and has contended that people whose identities have been used are not aware that ration cards have been issued in their name and ration was being illegally availed at subsidized rates on their behalf.

The plea, filed through advocates Anuj Arya and Ravin Rao, has sought an investigation into the alleged "fraud" in issuance of rations cards and the illegal transactions carried out by using them.

Shyam said he came to know about the alleged scam when he tried to ascertain whether there were any irregularities in issuance of ration cards.

He said that when he entered his Aadhaar number in the 'Track Food Security Application' link on the website of Delhi government's Department of Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs, he found it was linked to ration card of a woman, Premwati, who was indicated as his mother.

He has said in his plea he had never applied for a ration card or made a food security application and his mother's name was Radha Devi.

"The petitioner (Shyam Sunder) went to Food Corporation of India's office in Narela and found out that the said ration card was used to avail six kgs of rice every month from ration shop for the period of February, 2015 to April, 2015," the petition said.