Team Goemkarponn
PONDA: Beneficiaries of the public distribution system in Ponda taluka do not need to produce their physical ration cards to collect their monthly foodgrain quota if their Aadhaar-based authentication is successfully completed, the Office of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has clarified.
In a notice dated August 13, the Ponda Taluka Civil Supplies office said it had received complaints that certain Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers were insisting that beneficiaries produce their physical ration cards while issuing the monthly foodgrain quota.
The office clarified that beneficiary data is fully digitised and that verification at FPSs is carried out through Aadhaar-based authentication. Beneficiaries are therefore entitled to receive their monthly quota by furnishing their Aadhaar details and cannot be compelled to produce the physical ration card where Aadhaar authentication is successfully completed.
FPS dealers in Ponda taluka have been directed to allow beneficiaries to obtain their entitled foodgrains after successful authentication by producing any one of the following: a physical or digital copy of the Aadhaar card or a photograph of it, the Aadhaar number, a physical copy or photograph of the ration card, or the ration card number.
The Civil Supplies office has strictly instructed FPS dealers not to insist on production of the physical ration card when a beneficiary has been duly authenticated through Aadhaar.
It further warned that any instance of a beneficiary being denied their entitled foodgrains solely for failing to produce the physical ration card would be viewed seriously.
The notice was issued by Dr Gaurav Gopal Naik, Assistant Director, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Ponda Taluka.
