RANCHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India has directed the principal secretary of the Jharkhand government's food and public distribution department to ensure necessary action as per law by the competent authority in the matter of rations denied to a beneficiary owing to non-linkage of ration card with
Aadhaar.
The authority has, however, clarified that an additional investigation may be conducted, if necessary.
UIDAI's direction comes in the wake of a complaint forwarded to it by the Right to Food campaign (RTF) of Jharkhand against a March 2017 order of state chief secretary
Rajbala Verma mandating that ration cards not linked with Aadhaar would be automatically cancelled from April 5 onwards. RTF activist
Dheeraj Kumar, who had lodged the complaint with UIDAI, had sought direction in the matter for action against the CS. In a reply sent to RTF, UIDAI has said that under the Aadhaar Act no person shall be denied benefits for receipt of a subsidy for which the expenditure is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India as per Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016. UIDAI assistant director general H K Lal has said in the communication that on February 17, 2017 the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, government of India, had issued a notification that any individual entitled to receive subsidised food grain or cash transfer of food subsidy shall not be denied benefits due to non-availability of an Aadhaar number, which was reiterated in its letter dated October 24, 2017.
Kumar said: "We have furnished the copy of the chief secretary's order and a copy of the press release issued subsequently by the state government's information and public relations department to UIDAI and the state government. "During our investigation, the PDS dealers told us that ration cards not linked with Aadhaar were not being recognised by the electronic devices for biometric verification, which had led to denial of benefits to several beneficiaries in Jharkhand."
