Parliament Question: Aadhaar based e-KYC

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 680 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3RD DECEMBER, 2025 AADHAAR BASED E-KYC

680. SHRI AMRINDER SINGH RAJA WARRING:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be

pleased to state:

(a) whether the Union Government has issued repeated reminders and deadlines to the State Government of Punjab to complete Aadhaar-based e-KYC and beneficiary verification under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the total number of ration cards in Punjab that have been placed under “verification pending”, “KYC pending” or “proposed for deletion” categories as a result of the Punjab Government’s administrative lapses;

(c) the total number of eligible ration cardholders in Punjab in the last three years from 2022 onwards, year-wise;

(d) whether the Union Government has sought explanations from the Punjab Government regarding delays, irregularities or discrepancies detected during verification; and

(e) the details of the steps taken by the Government to ensure that eligible poor families in Punjab do not lose access to subsidised foodgrains? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS.

FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)

(a): The Department of Food and Public Distribution has issued multiple communications to all State Governments, including the Government of Punjab, urging the timely completion ofAadhaar- based e-KYC and beneficiary verification under NFS A. These include repeated reminders, DO letters, and reviews through video conferences.

(b): As per the Central NFS A repository, the position of ration cards and e-KYC status in

Punjab is as under: • Total Ration Cards under NFSA: 40,93,003 • Total NFSA Beneficiaries: 1,51,67,073 • Beneficiaries whose e-KYC has not been completed: 20,69,338Further, under the Rightful Targeting exercise, the following figures were reported to . Punjab regarding flagged beneficiaries and subsequent deletions by the State after field

verification and due process:

Flagged Cases IDeleted Cases }i:m4 ,90,940

(c): The year-wise number of ration cards in Punjab, as per the central NFS A data repository,

is as under: ear ITotal Ration Cards m4 022 2023 7,87,561 m4 024 no 025 (as on date)

(d): Various communications by this department were sent to States, followed by several review meetings via video conference, advising the State to take immediate corrective action on the large number of flagged cases reflected in the Rightful Targeting Dashboard and to expedite e- KYC completion.

(e): While identification of eligible households under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) is the statutory responsibility of the State Governments under the NFSA, the Union Government supports States through regular monitoring and technological interventions to ensure rightful targeting.

Key initiatives include: • Development and provision of the Rightful Targeting Dashboard, which analytically highlights flagged beneficiaries to enable States to verify these cases on the ground and sanitise their databases • Regular advisories, correspondences, and review meetings with the Government of Pun-jab to ensure timely e-KYC completion and verification.

• Removal/retention of flagged cases under the Rightful Targeting Dashboard post field verification by the State Government, so that genuine beneficiaries are not deleted Se SeqeRScSc