Parliament Question: Exclusion of Beneficiaries under PMGKAY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4600 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20TH AUGUST, 2025 EXCLUSION OF BENEFICIARIES UNDER PMGKAY

4600. SHRI SUDAMA PRASAD:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC

DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

(a) the details of criteria being used to determine ineligibility of beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) as per the data shared by the Income Tax Department;

(b) the details of beneficiaries of the yojana along with estimated number of beneficiaries likely to be removed from the scheme State/District-wise;

(c) whether any measures have been taken by the Government to prevent wrongful exclusion of eligible beneficiaries and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether any grievance redressal mechanism has been made available for those wrongly classified as ineligible under the income verification and if so, the details thereof along with the alternative measures in place to address the same;

(e) whether the Government has constituted any committee to assess the impact on vulnerable households under the exclusion process; and

(f) if so, the details and findings thereof including the action taken by the Government thereon? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)

(a) to (f): The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Alma Yojana (PMGKAY) is governed as per provisions of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 .

Under the joint responsibility of the Central and State Government, the responsibility for identification of beneficiaries and issuance of their ration cards rests with the concerned State Government-2- Identification of beneficiaries under the act is under two categories- households covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to the extent specified by the Central Government and the remaining households as priority households to be identified by the State Governments/ Union Territories (UT) Administrations as per criteria evolved by them, within the coverage determined for the State/UT. Thus, the criteria for identification of beneficiaries under Priority Households Category may vary from State to State depending upon Socio-Economic, demographic conditions of the State.

The Central Government issues advisories to all the States/Union Territories from time to time to identify all eligible and poor persons/ households including vulnerable Sections of the Society for inclusion under the NFS A. States are undertaking updation of their beneficiary database so that bogus ration cards get deleted and better targeting of rightful beneficiaries is ensured. Thus, deletion of ineligible beneficiaries and addition of eligible beneficiaries under the Act is a contInuous process.

Explicit provisions are made under the National Food Security Act for redressal of grievances of beneficiaries. The Act provides that every State Government shall put in place an internal grievance redressal mechanism which may include call centres, help lines, designation of nodal officers, or such other mechanism as may be prescribed. The Act further provides for a appointment/designation of District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO) for expeditious and effective redressal of grievances of the aggrieved persons in matters relating to distribution of entitled foodgrains and to enforce the entitlements under the Act. The Act also provides for constitution/designation of a State Food Commission for the purpose of monitoring and review of implementation of the Act. The Commission either SIlo-moto or on the receipt of complaints inquires into violations of entitlements under Chapter-II of the Act and hear appeal against the

order of the D(3RO Se gcSeSeSc