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Ludhiana: Sans verification, over 10k families may lose free ration
According to officials, the district food and civil supplies department has launched a special survey to identify families in which not even a single member has completed the eKYC process
Over 10,214 ration card holding families in Ludhiana are facing the risk of being excluded from free wheat entitlement under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) after they failed to complete the mandatory eKYC verification, meant to weed out ineligible beneficiaries from the public distribution system, officials familiar with the matter said.
According to officials, the district food and civil supplies department has launched a special survey to identify families in which not even a single member has completed the eKYC process. Such families are likely to be denied subsidised wheat allocations scheduled for January, if verification is not completed within the stipulated period. In Punjab, NFSA beneficiaries holding ration cards are entitled to get 15 kg of free wheat per quarter.
Reportedly, the ongoing exercise is being carried out in line with directions issued by the Union government on March 17, 2023, which has instructed all states and Union Territories to ensure 100% eKYC of NFSA beneficiaries. The move aims to enhance transparency and eliminate ineligible or duplicate beneficiaries from the public distribution system.
Officials said that despite the policy being in place for over two years, achieving full compliance continues to remain a challenge, particularly due to dense migrant populations in Ludhiana.
Explaining this, a senior official from the food and civil supplies department said that a large number of beneficiaries who are yet to complete eKYC are located in areas such as Giaspura, Dhandari Kalan and the Focal Point area, which are known hubs of migrant labourers. “This population frequently moves between Ludhiana and their native places making it difficult to track and complete biometric verification,” the official said.
When contacted, Sartaj Cheema, district food supplies controller (Ludhiana West), said,” The department has rolled out a targeted eKYC survey focusing on families where verification remains completely pending. Food inspectors have been directed to personally reach out to such households and facilitate their eKYC.”
“However, if families fail to complete the verification even after this exercise, they may miss out on their NFSA entitlements,” he added.
