Government has announced on Monday that the last to seed the Aadhaar numbers with ration cards/beneficiaries has been extended up to September 30, 2020.
Its remarks came thrashing a news report that says ration cards of those who do not provide Aadhar number will be cancelled.
“Department has issued clear instructions to all States/UTs vide letters dated 24.10.2017 and 08.11.2018 that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be denied from an entitled quota of food grains, or their names/ration cards shall not be deleted/cancelled only on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number,” Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a statement.
Further, instructions are also issued that food grains under NFSA shall not be denied due to failure of biometric / Aadhaar authentication of beneficiary because of poor biometrics of the beneficiary, issues with network/connectivity/linking or any other technical reasons.
“During the current crisis situation, a pragmatic approach is needed so that no poor or deserving person or family is denied access to food grains. In due course linking of Aadhar to the ration card and beneficiaries will ensure that no person entitled to such ration is denied such access,” Ministry said.