Bhubaneswar, Nov 27 (PTI) The Odisha government has removed the names of over 1.77 lakh dead beneficiaries from the public distribution system (PDS) since June 15, 2024, the assembly was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply to a query by Congress MLA Sofia Firdous, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra said no false ration card has been detected in Odisha since June 15, 2024.
The names of 1,77,068 dead people have been detected in the PDS database since June 15, which have been deleted, he said.
Patra said the highest number of 24,579 names were deleted in Ganjam district, followed by 14,436 in Balasore district, 12,990 in Bhadrak district, 12,139 in Cuttack and 11,736 in Kendrapara district.
The names of 1,77,068 migrant labourers/workers have been included after removing the dead people's names, the minister said. This has been done according to the directions of the Supreme Court of India, he said.
Replying to a question by BJP legislator Tankadhar Tripathy, Patra informed the House that the state government has been providing free rice to a total of 3.26 crore people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and 10.03 lakh people under the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS).
The Centre is providing 22.44 lakh metric tonnes of rice to Odisha to meet the requirement under NFSA.
Similarly, the state government is distributing around 60,000 metric tonnes of rice under its SFSS, he said.
So far, a total of 6,19,836 beneficiaries have applied for new ration cards in Odisha, he added.