Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has so far identified as many as 1,77,078 deceased ration card beneficiaries and removed the names from the Public Distribution System (PDS) database, informed Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra today.

The minister was replying to a question by MLA Manas Kumar Dutta in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

In an effort to make the ration card database more transparent, the Odisha government has implemented the Aadhaar-based e-KYC verification process for the year 2024-25. Out of the total 3,36,35,918 PDS beneficiaries in the state, verification has been completed for 2,69,23,830 individuals, said Patra.

When deceased beneficiaries are identified during the verification process, their details are removed from the ration card database. The vacated slots will be allocated to eligible applicants to ensure food security for all deserving families, the minister said.

So far, the state has received 6,19,836 new applications for ration cards, which are being processed to include qualified applicants in the system, he added.