Maharashtra Government approved the proposal to issue Aadhar-linked ration cards

The state cabinet of Maharashtra on 3 March 2015 approved the proposal to issue Aadhar-linked ration cards. The approval was given in a bid to curb fake beneficiaries and bring in transparency in the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Under this two-phased programme of 173.72 crore rupees, Aadhar-linked ration cards will be distributed to all the 2.32 crore ration card holders in the state in the first phase.

In the second phase, all PDS outlets across the state will be connected with a mobile terminal technology–enabled biometric network to recognise each customer’s details before distributing the food grains.

Reason for the Aadhar-linked ration cards programme
The Aadhar-linked ration cards programme was made in the backdrop of complaints about the irregularities and malpractices in PDS outlets. Beside this, fake or duplicate ration cards are also used by ineligible people to avail undue benefits of the state government under various schemes.

Benefit of the Aadhar-linked ration cards programme
• The government will be able to gauge the exact number of beneficiaries of various schemes of the state and weed out the fake beneficiaries so that genuine persons get the benefit
• This programme will end to all these malpractices and bring in transparency in the system
With the commencement of this initiative, Maharashtra will be the third state in India to come up with Centre-initiated scheme of Aadhar-linked ration cards. The other two states are Punjab and Gujarat.

The Centre-initiated scheme of Aadhar-linked ration cards is being implemented to strictly monitor the benefits under the National Food Security Act, 2013.