New Delhi: More than 4 crore bogus ration cards have been canceled in the country from 2014 to 2021, the Union Government informed Rajya Sabha on Monday. The information was presented in the Upper House by the Minister of State (MoS), Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply.
"Accordingly, the states/UTs have reported cancellation of about 4.28 crore bogus ration cards during the period 2014 to 2021 so far," the MoS stated. According to the statistics presented by the Minister, Uttar Pradesh tops the chart with over 1.70 crore bogus ration cards during the time, followed by Maharashtra (about 41.65 lakh) and West Bengal (about 41.09 lakh).
The Minister said that under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) an offence committed in violation of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) Control Order 2015 is liable for penal action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. "Thus, the order empowers State/UT Governments to take punitive action in case of any contravention of relevant provisions of these orders," stated Choubey.
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