Even as agriculture minister Sharad Pawar revealed on Tuesday that over 1.5 crore bogus ration cards have been unearthed in the last two months alone, Nandan Nilekani is trying to get states to log on to the unique identification platform to ensure that subsidised PDS foodgrain reaches intended beneficiaries.
?We are working with the food & civil supplies department in the agriculture ministry to explain to states the advantages of using UIDs for schemes like PDS. We have held one workshop in the Capital attended by all states. We have also visited 12 states and explained to them how the UID would work,? Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani said at an Idea Exchange programme hosted by The Express Group.
Nilekani, co-founder and former chairman of Infosys Technologies, refused to name the states that have evinced interest in the UIDAI?s pitch so far. However, from what Pawar told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, some states have begun to take the problem of fake ration cards seriously.
?In September, we wrote to states asking them to verify their ration card holders? database after two separate reports–by the programme evaluation wing of the Planning Commission and independent research firm ORG-Marg–pointed to large-scale discrepancies in beneficiary lists and diversion of foodgrain sent by the Centre,? Pawar said.
The minister, however, lamented that not all states are serious about cleaning up PDS beneficiary lists. ?In some states, the number of beneficiaries is more than the Centre?s estimate. In Tamil Nadu, the entire population has been given BPL cards. In some states, we are getting complaints that the quantum of grain given is less?20 kg or so–compared with the 35 kg (per BPL household) we send,? he revealed.