A total of 2.93 lakh ration card holders had not turned up to take their rations for three months after a biometric-linked system was introduced in January and none of them had approached the government so far, the Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Department said in a statement on Monday.
e-POS system
The department said 99.4% of the beneficiaries of the food security scheme had taken their ration after biometric authentication through the e-point of sale (e-POS) system introduced on January 1. About 2.93 lakh card holders had not turned up to take the ration in January, February and March. The department said the new system had given space for new beneficiaries who were waiting to be added.
Recently, the department started a verification drive in order to check the details of those who had not taken ration for three consecutive months, on orders of the Central government. So far, about 55,000 notices have been issued to the 2.93 lakh ration card holders, the department said.
The department added that it would take “utmost precautions so that no eligible beneficiary is deprived” of ration and that due verification was needed to make sure ineligible beneficiaries did not re-enter the system.
“It is also important to mention here that not even a single ration card holder among 2.93 lakh suspect beneficiaries turned up with any grievance for not getting ration,” the department said.
Reacting to the decision, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain had on Sunday written to Food and Civil Supplies Commissioner Mohanjeet Singh, asking him to restore the ration of those who had not availed of ration for three consecutive months. The department had decided to stop the ration of such ration card-holders from May till the verification was completed.
