Alleged malpractices using 'Aadhaar' in States & UTs for distribution of food grains
New Delhi: In a startling incident, some complaints/reports of malpractices involving use of Aadhaar during the distribution of subsidized foodgrains in States/UTs have been reported to Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution on Monday. Following which the department had taken action against the fair price shops in states and union territories.
As per a press statement by the department, around 557 fair shops has been suspended during the investigation and licenses of 984 Fair shops were cancelled.
Action was taken against FPSs in States/UTs:-
| No. of districts | No. of districts | Total No. of FIR lodged in the districts | Total No. of FPSs suspended | Total No. of FPSs Cancelled |
| 43 | 859 | 517 | 557 | 984 |
Action was taken against officers/employees in States/UTs:-
| No. of employees involved | Departmental action taken | Suspension of employees | |||
| 07 | 03 | 04 |
This information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao in the Lok Sabha today.
It is to be noted that the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and State/UT Governments. Central Govt. is responsible for procurement, allocation and transportation of foodgrains upto the designated depots of the FCI. The operational responsibilities for allocation and distribution of foodgrains within the States/UTs, identification of eligible beneficiaries/families, issuance of ration cards to them and supervision and monitoring of functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) rest with the concerned State/UT Government.
About Aadhaar
Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by residents of India, based on their biometric and demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established in January 2009 by the government of India, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016.