Sanjay Nirupam: People in Mumbai not getting ration due to Aadhaar issues

Sanjay Nirupam. File pic

Over 21 lakh eligible persons in the city are not getting food grains and other products sold at Fair Price Shops as their ration cards are not linked to Aadhaar or there are some glitches in the linking, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam claimed on Thursday. "I have accessed rationing data of Mumbai from a
government site, which shows that out of 54 lakh beneficiaries (ration card holders), only over 32 lakh are getting the ration from 4,200 Public Distribution System (PDS) shops," he said, speaking to reporters here.

"This is a clear violation of the Supreme Court's guidelines, which have instructed the government not to make Aadhaar-linking mandatory for distribution of goods from PDS shops," the Congress leader said. Electronic Point of Sale machines at PDS shops do not function properly, which, coupled with slow 2G Internet connections which these shops have, led to a chaos, he said.

He also termed it a "mockery of Digital India" slogan of the Union government. People stand in queues for two to three hours and still return empty-handed because their thumb impressions do not match with Aadhaar data, the Congress leader alleged. Some ration card-holders also narrated their experiences at the press conference. The requirement to link ration cards with Aadhaar should be suspended until the Supreme Court gives its verdict on the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, Nirupam demanded.

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