11 lakh ration beneficiaries suspect, Centre asks Punjab to act by Sept 30

The Centre has asked the Punjab Government to verify the antecedents of 11 lakh “suspicious” beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and remove them by September 30.

These beneficiaries are either income tax payees, directors in companies, own more than five acres of land or a four-wheeler. The Centre has pointed out that by these standards, around 11 lakh beneficiaries cannot be considered in the “poor category” and questioned if they should be given free food grains under the NFSA.

Recently, the Centre had shared the database of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, showing the total number of beneficiaries under the NFSA across the country. The Centre has reportedly found eight crore suspicious beneficiaries across the country, of whom 11 lakh are in Punjab.

There are 1.53 crore beneficiaries under the NFSA in Punjab. Each beneficiary is entitled to 5 kg of wheat per month at Rs 2 a kg. In Punjab, the government distributes ration for three months, with 32,500 metric tonnes being distributed for each month.

Sources in the government told The Tribune that the number of these suspicious beneficiaries in Punjab was less as compared to other states because the eKYC of beneficiaries was an ongoing process. The state government had already removed 32,473 beneficiaries after verification.

“However, we will now seek six-month time from the Centre for the verification of these suspicious beneficiaries. Since the paddy procurement is to begin in three weeks, the entire machinery of the Food and Supply Department will be employed in the procurement operations. Also, the state government will be seeking details of the database of these beneficiaries before the verification starts,” said a senior officer in the government.