STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Around 4,95,036 beneficiaries have not yet linked their Aadhaar cards with their ration cards obtained under the NFSA (National Food Security Act) in Assam. Around six percent of the people in the state do not have Aadhaar cards, even after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked the district commissioners to ensure that every person in their districts has an Aadhaar card by September 30, 2023.
Lagging far behind is Dima Hasao district, where only 87.9 percent of people have Aadhaar cards. Folliwing Dima Hasao is Cachar, with 89.8 percent of people having Aadhaar cards, and Udalguri, with 90.7 percent. Majuli has the distinction of having 94.4 percent of its population obtain Aadhaar cards.
The Central Government has made the Aadhaar card-ration card linkage mandatory. Of late, it has also requested that people link their Aadhaar cards with their bank passbooks, voter cards, Ayushman cards, etc.
Assam has 2,12,66,598 ration card beneficiaries, and of them, 2,07,71,562 beneficiaries link their Aadhaar cards with their ration cards, but 4,95,036 beneficiaries have not yet linked their Aadhaar cards with their ration cards. This is not all. A large number of ration card holders in the state do not have any bank accounts. The state has 60,67,933 ration cards issued under the NFSA, and 52,03,511 of them have links to bank accounts. The remaining 8,64,422 ration cards in the state have no linkage to bank accounts. If the Aadhaar-bank account linkage is not completed within September 30, many of the beneficiaries may not get various benefits from the schemes.
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