Bhubaneswar: The Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Department has identified 177,068 fake ration card beneficiaries in the state, department minister Krushna Chandra Patra revealed while replying to a question raised by Manas Kumar Dutt in the Assembly on Wednesday.
According to the minister, the department has completed the KYC verification of the ration cards belonging to 2,69,23,830 of the total 3,36,35,819 beneficiaries. During the verification it was found that 177,068 beneficiaries were dead.
“The names of the ghost beneficiaries will be removed from the PDS beneficiary list and eligible beneficiaries will be included everywhere,” Patra said adding, “New ration cards will be provided to the eligible applicants as soon as possible.”
Till date, 6,19,836 applications for new ration cards have been received in the state, the minister added.
