Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has so far identified over 3 lakh deceased ration card beneficiaries during eKYC (Know Your Customer) verification and removed their names from the database of the Public Distribution System, informed Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra in the Assembly today. 

Responding to a query by BJD MLA Ganeswar Behera regarding the number of PDS beneficiaries who have completed the eKYC verification and the number of ghost beneficiaries, the Minister revealed that as many as 3,28,932 ghost beneficiaries were availing ration card benefits. Their names were detected during the eKYC verification and names struck off from the PDS database. Of these, Keonjhar had the maximum number of fake beneficiaries with the figure touching 38,550, followed by Ganjam (25,789), Mayurbhanj (23,799) and Rayagada (22,411).

Stressing on the government's concerted bid to remove unwanted beneficiaries from food security coverage list and make the ration card database more transparent, Patra in his written reply stated that total 2,99,50,890 PDS beneficiaries in Odisha have completed eKYC. Of these, 2,98,14,921 completed the verification within the State while 1,35,899 did it outside Odisha. Furnishing data of ration card holders who completed the eKYC in the State and dead beneficiaries, Patra said 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 2,99,50,890 individuals. Details of  deceased beneficiaries identified during the verification process, have been removed from the ration card database. Slots vacated will be allocated to eligible applicants to ensure food security for all deserving families, the Minister said.

The deadline for verification of ration cards was initially fixed at February 15, but later extended to March 31, 2025 due to internet  connectivity issues. 

Odisha government has made it mandatory for Ration Card beneficiaries to do the e-KYC of their AADHAR card.