Bhubaneswar: Activists from two social organizations criticised the state govt at a press conference on Saturday for mandating the linking of Aadhaar cards with ration cards. Prafulla Samantara, president of Lok Shakti Abhiyan, and Sameet Panda of Khadya Suraksha Abhiyan, demanded that the govt halt the ongoing process and provide more clarity on the issue.Samantara argued that the denial of ration cards due to failure of biometric authentication violates a high court order issued on Apr 13, 2022.
“The court had directed the state govt that no beneficiary shall be deprived of rations due to non-linkage of Aadhaar with a bank passbook or failure to seed Aadhaar in the public distribution system database,” said Samantara. He added that more than three crore people receive ration under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS), many of whom are unaware of the e-KYC verification process. Panda criticised the govt for focusing its resources on creating obstacles for existing ration cardholders instead of issuing cards to those excluded from the NFSA.
Krushna Chandra Patra, the food supplies and consumer welfare minister, clarified that there is no deadline for the e-KYC verification. “Beneficiaries can take part in the process with ease. But linking Aadhaar with ration cards is mandatory. If a beneficiary does not have Aadhaar, he/she should apply for it,” said Patra.

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