Parliament Question: Digital Reforms in Public Distribution System

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1711 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29TH JULY, 2026 DIGITAL REFORMS IN PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM 1711 DR.BHOLASINGH: Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a) the number of beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act and One Nation One Ration Card Scheme in Uttar Pradesh, district-wise, including Bulandshahr district; (b) the number of Fair Price Shops equipped with electronic Point of Sale devices and Aadhaar- based authentication facilities in said district; (c) the number of portability transactions recorded under One Nation One Ration Card in the said district during the last three years; (d) whether the Government has identified instances of authentication failure or interruption in access to subsidised foodgrains in rural areas and if so, the details thereoe and (e) the steps taken by the Government to strengthen end-to-end computerisation, digital monitoring and uninterrupted delivery of foodgrains to eligible beneficiaries? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIM ATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA) (a): The number of beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act and One Nation One Ration Card in Uttar Pradesh, district-wise, including Bulandshahr district is at Annexure-I. (b): A total of 1,335 Fair Price Shops are equipped with electronic Point of Sale devices and Aadhaar-based authentication facilities in Bulandshahr district. (c): The number of portability transactions recorded under One Nation One Ration Card in Bulandshahr district in last three years is as follows:Inter- Intra-State 1 Grand Year State Total Total Total 2023 0 3,78,485 3,78,485 2024 4 5,08, 183 5,08, 1 87 2025 8 5,72,230 5,72,238 2026 1- 3,05,248 3,05,797 Jury (d): No such instances have been reported to this Department. Further, all States/UTs have been advised that no beneficiary or household shall be denied their entitled quantity offoodgrains due to failure of biometric or Aadhaar authentication arising from network connectivity issues, technical reasons, Aadhaar linking issues, or poor biometric quality. States/UTs have been instructed to follow alternative and exception handling mechanisms to ensure uninterrupted access to foodgrains. (e): The steps taken by the Government to strengthen end-to-end computerisation, digital monitoring and uninterrupted delivery offoodgrains to eligible beneficiaries are as follows – i. Digitisation & Aadhaar seeding: Ration cards/beneficiary database 100% digitised in all States/UTs; 99.7% of ration cards Aadhaar-seeded, eliminating ineligible/duplicate cards. ii. Transparency & grievance redressal: Transparency portals and online grievance redressal/toll-free helplines operational in all States/UTs. iii. Online allocation & supply chain computerisation: Online allocation implemented in all States/UTs; supply chain computerised in 31 States/UTs (except Chandigarh, Puducherry and urban Dadra & Nagar Haveli, which have adopted DBT Cash Transfer). iv. ePoS-based Aadhaar authentication at FPS level: 5.50 lakh (99.8%) of 5.51 lakh Fair Price Shops automated with ePoS devices, ensuring biometric authentication of beneficiaries at the point of distribution and curbing diversion.v. One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC): Nationwide portability implemented across all 36 States/UTs, covering all PIVIGKAY beneficiaries; over 221 crore portability transactions recorded to date, reducing exclusion and duplicate entitlement claims. vi. Rightful Targeting (RT): A dedicated de-duplication and beneficiary-verification exercise using Aadhaar/PDS data analytics has led to identification and deletion of ineligible/duplicate beneficiaries, with 5.95 Cr flagged beneficiaries (excluding landholding cases) and 2.35 Cr deleted beneficiaries. vii. SMART-PDS reform initiative: Being implemented with modules for Ration Card Management, Distribution, Supply Chain and Grievance Redressal to further standardise and digitally integrate State-level TPDS operations. viii. NIRIVIAL & SAKSHANI: New initiatives under the SARTHAK PDS Umbrella Scheme (2026–31) aimed at strengthening data architecture/analytics (NIRMAL) and real-time data integration (including VLTS) from Procurement of food grains to Distribution to the beneficiaries (Sal<sham). SeSeSc RScAnnexu re-I Annexure referred to in the reply to Part (a) ofUnstarred Question No. 1711 in the Lok Sabha on 29.07.2026. Number of Beneficiaries (district-wise) under the National Food Security Act and One Nation One Ration Card in Uttar Pradesh Beneficiary S.No State Name District Name Count 1 UTTAR PRADESH AGRA 30,70,335 2 UTTAR PRADESH ALIGARH 25,86,073 3 UTTAR PRADESH AMBEDKAR NAGAR 18,59,033 4 UTTAR PRADESH AMETHI 13,94,274 5 UTTAR PRADESH AMROHA 12,94,588 6 UTTAR PRADESH AURAIYA 10,47,719 7 UTTAR PRADESH AYODHYA 18,33,018 8 UTTAR PRADESH AZAMGARH 33,45,630 9 UTTAR PRADESH BAGH PAT 8,8 1 ,487 no 10 UTTAR PRADESH BAHRAICH 11 UTTAR PRADESH BALLIA 24,84,04 1 12 UTTAR PRADESH BALRAN[PUR 15,92,963 1 3 UTTAR PRADESH BANDA 13,12,913 14 UTTAR PRADESH BARABANKI 25,64, 140 15 UTTAR PRADESH BAREILLY 3 1,67,434 16 UTTAR PRADESH BASTI 18,34,92 1 17 UTTAR PRADESH BHADOHI 12,05,683 18 UTTAR PRADESH BIJNOR 27,69,894 19 UTTAR PRADESH BUDAUN 22,74,768 20 UTTAR PRADESH BULANDSHAHR 25,94,492 21 UTTAR PRADESH CHANDAULI 14,50,153 22 UTTAR PRADESH CHITRAKOOT 8,38,985 2 3 UTTAR PRADESH DEORIA 23,74,62 1 24 UTTAR PRADESH ETAH 13,25,735 25 UTTAR PRADESH ETA WAH I1,00, 101 26 UTTAR PRADESH FARRUKHABAD 13,95,870 27 UTTAR PRADESH FATEHPUR 19,48,530 28 UTTAR PRADESH FIROZABAD 19,32, 122 29 UTTAR PRADESH GAUTAM BUDDHA NAGAR 7,99,063 3 0 UTTAR PRADESH GHAZIABAD 19,61 ,061 3 1 UTTAR PRADESH GHAZIPUR 27,75,207 3 2 UTTAR PRADESH GON DA 25,50,714 35 UTTAR PRADESH GORAKHPUR 31,10,036 3 zI UTTAR PRADESH HAMIRPUR 9, 12,985 3 5 UTTAR PRADESH HAPUR 9,80,654 3 6 UTTAR PRADESH HARDOI 31 ,35.548 3 7 UTTAR PRADESH HATHRAS 11,34,672 3 8 UTTAR PRADESH JALAUN 1 1 ,48,42 1 3 9 UTTAR PRADESH JAUNPUR 35,0 1 ,040 40 UTTAR PRADESH JHANSI 14,23,823 41 UTTAR PRADESH KANNAUJ 1 2,48,335 42 UTTAR PRADESH KANPUR DEHAT 13,05,47443 UTTAR PRADESH KANPUR NAGAR 28,33,03 1 44 UTTAR PRADESH KASGANJ 10,11,218 45 UTTAR PRADESH KAUSHAMBI 12,48,364 46 UTTAR PRADESH KHERI 3 1 ,21,672 47 UTTAR PRADESH KUSHI NAGAR 26,97,003 48 UTTAR PRADESH LALITPUR 9,44,606 49 UTTAR PRADESH LUCKNOW 30, 14, 183 50 UTTAR PRADESH MAHARAJGANJ 20,90, 1 63 51 UTTAR PRADESH MAHOBA 7,38,239 52 UTTAR PRADESH MAINPURI 13,39,480 5 3 UTTAR PRADESH MATHURA 1 7,67,0 1 7 54 UTTAR PRADESH MAU 16, 17,481 55 UTTAR PRADESH MEERUT 23,75,65 1 56 UTTAR PRADESH MIRZAPUR 19,03,221 57 UTTAR PRADESH MORADABAD 22,42,990 58 UTTAR PRADESH MUZAFFARN AGAR 21 , 17,539 59 UTTAR PRADESH PILIBHIT 16,36,014 60 UTTAR PRADESH PRATAPGARH 24,73 , 1 90 61 UTTAR PRADESH PRAYAGRAJ 42, 17,484 62 UTTAR PRADESH RAE BARELI 2 1 ,93 ,629 6 3 UTTAR PRADESH RAMPUR 1 7, 16 ,340 64 UTTAR PRADESH SAHARANPUR 25,46,749 65 UTTAR PRADESH SANIBHAL 15,59,789 66 UTTAR PRADESH SANT KABEER NAGAR 13,83,269 67 UTTAR PRADESH SHAHJAHANPUR 22,29,25 1 68 UTTAR PRADESH SHAMLI 9,44,458 69 UTTAR PRADESH SHRAVASTI 8,78,92 1 70 UTTAR PRADESH SIDDHARTH NAGAR 19,47,258 71 UTTAR PRADESH SITAPUR 34, 10,070 72 UTTAR PRADESH SONBHADRA 14,89,527 7 3 UTTAR PRADESH SULTANPUR 18,81 ,061 74 UTTAR PRADESH UNNAO 22,98,429 75 UTTAR PRADESH VARANASI 26,92,828 Total 14,67,30,250 88888 \ \