Aadhaar-Ration card linkage deadline extends: Good news for the ration-card holders, As per the government proclamation, If your ration card is not yet linked to Aadhaar card you can continue to get your quota of foodgrains as the government has extended the deadline of seeding Aadhaar card with ration card till the end of this September.
The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution clarified on Monday that no ration card of the beneficiaries under PDS will be canceled or the name of the beneficiaries be deleted on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number till September 30, 2020.
“The timeline given to all states/UTs, under the Aadhaar notification of the Department of Food and Public Distribution dated February 7, 2017 (as amended from time-to-time) to complete the seeding of Aadhaar numbers with all ration cards/beneficiaries, has been extended up to September 30, 2020, by the department,” an official statement said.
The Ministry said, “It has been reported in a section of newspapers today that ration cards of those who do not provide Aadhaar number will be canceled.”
The ministry now had issued clear instructions to all states and union territories (UTs) that no genuine beneficiary or household should be denied from entitled quota of food grains, it said. “Their names/ration cards should not be deleted/canceled only on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number,” the ministry said.
Instructions have also been issued that grains under the food law should not be denied due to the failure of Aadhaar authentication of beneficiary because of poor biometrics of the beneficiary, issues with network connectivity, linking or any other technical reasons.
Under the NFSA, the Centre provides 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month to around 80 crore people at a highly subsidized price of ₹2-3 per kg. To provide relief during the lockdown, the Centre is providing an additional 5 kg of foodgrains per month free of cost. This is for three months period till June.
At present, nearly 90% of all 23.5 crore ration cards are already seeded with the Aadhaar numbers of ration card holders (i.e. at least one member of the family). Nearly 85% of all 80 crore beneficiaries have also seeded their Aadhaar number with their respective ration cards.
The government has also started the implementation of the inter-state portability of NFSA ration card holders under ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ plan to protect the interest of poor and migratory beneficiaries.
