By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 16, 2019: Odisha has more than 19 lakh ghost or ineligible beneficiaries for years. This shocking date was revealed after the completion of the deadline of Aadhaar seeding of ration cards in the State.

The Food and Civil Supplies Department has categorically stated that the beneficiaries whose Aadhaar card has not yet been seeded will not get PDS rice henceforth. However, the poor and the elderly and beneficiaries in inaccessible regions, who are yet to seed their Aadhaar with ration cards, will be entitled to get benefits of the scheme.

The State government has entrusted market intelligence officials to identify such left out beneficiaries. Only after the completion of the identification process, the exact number of fake or ineligible beneficiaries can be ascertained, informed sources.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Centre identified nearly 3.16 crore beneficiaries in the State to be covered under NFSA. In a bid to enroll and extend benefits to more beneficiaries, Odisha government launched its own Food Security Act just ahead of 2019 elections.

Under its own Food Security Act, Odisha government enrolled 25 lakh additional beneficiaries. It is alleged that the State government, after seeding of Aadhaar, has now included those additional beneficiaries of its own food security act in the Central scheme as well. It is said that such s move is intended to reduce the State’s financial burden.