Parliament Question: Harassment of the Ration Card Holders

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2860 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5TH AUGUST, 2026 HARASSMENT OF THE RATION CARD HOLDERS 2860 SHRI ESWARASAMY K: Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes in the eventualities like non–availability of network, server remaining down, mismatch of fingerprints, alternative arrangements like supplying ration by inserting Aadhaar Numbers should be ensured to minimize harassment of the ration card holders; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether any Government order regarding not depriving any ration card holder in such a situation is issued; and (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the details of the problems in the issuance of a formal order? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIM ATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA) (a) & (b): Multiple authentication modes have been provisioned under the Public Distribution System (PDS), including Single Finger, Fusion Finger, IRIS, and Aadhaar-based OTP authentication. In cases where authentication by one household member fails, other eligible family members linked to the ration card are permitted to authenticate and draw foodgrains. Additionally, a nominee facility has been provided in exceptional cases, allowing beneficiaries to authorise another individual to lift ration on their behalf. The e-PoS devices have a functionality to work in offline mode with limited/ no internet connectivity. These measures ensure no eligible beneficiary is harassed or denied their entitled foodgrains. The e-PoS devices are required to periodically connect to the network to synchronize offline transection data with the PDS online system. (c) & (d) All States/UTs have been advised that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be denied from receiving entitled quota of subsidized foodgrains due to failure of biometric/Aadhaar authentication due to networldCorInectivity/linking related issues, other technical reasons or poor biometrics of the beneficiary. # # ## #