New Delhi : The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today shared that the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under NFSA, 2013 is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State/Union Territory (UT) Governments. The operational responsibilities for allocation of foodgrains within the States/UTs, identification of eligible beneficiaries/families, issuance of ration cards to them, distribution of foodgrains to eligible beneficiaries/families under TPDS and issuance of licenses to Fair Price Shops (FPSs), supervision and monitoring of functioning of FPSs, etc. rests with the concerned State/UT Government.
For redressal of grievances, Helpline number 1967/1800- State series is operational in all the States/UTs.
As and when complaints, including complaints regarding corruption, are received in this Department from any source, they are sent to the concerned State/UT Government for inquiry and appropriate action.
5,798 complaints/grievances have been sent to States/UTs from January, 2019 to June, 2022. Statement is Annexed.
From January 2015 to June, 2022, a total number of 265640 raids were conducted and a total number of 42274 persons were arrested/prosecuted/ convicted and 86715 Fair Price Shop licenses suspended/cancelled/show cause notices issued/FIR Lodged.
As per the National Food Security Act, 2013, it is the duty of the States/UTs to take delivery of foodgrains from the designated depots of the Central Government in the States/UTs, organize intra-State allocations for delivery of the allocated foodgrains through their authorized agencies at the door-step of each fair price shop and ensure actual delivery of supply of the foodgrains to the entitled persons.
Under NFSA, this Department allocates foodgrains to States/UTs for distribution to around 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries in the country on a monthly basis. Further, due to Aadhaar seeding and installation of ePoS devices at the FPSs, at present, more than 90% of transactions in the country are done through biometric authentication on a monthly basis, bringing transparency in the system. However, all States/UTs have also been advised that no genuine beneficiary/ household shall be denied from receiving entitled quota of subsidized foodgrains only for want of Aadhaar or due to failure of biometric/ Aadhar authentication due to network/connectivity/linking related issues, other technical reasons or poor biometrics of the beneficiary. Also, the timeline given to all States/UTs for Aadhaar notification has been extended up to 31/12/2022 so that all eligible beneficiaries entitled to receive subsidized foodgrains or Cash Transfer of Food subsidy under NFSA, who do not possess the Aadhaar Number or, are yet not enrolled for Aadhaar, but are desirous of availing subsidies foodgrains or Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy under NFSA are hereby required to make application for Aadhaar enrolment by 31st December, 2022.
ANNEX.
| STATEMENT: COMPLAINTS ON TPDS RECEIVED IN THE DEPARTMENT FROM INDIVIDUALS, ORGANISATIONS & THROUGH MEDIA REPORTS ETC FROM 2019 TO till date 30.06.2022 | |||||
| S. No. | State/UT | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | up to 30.06.2022 |
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | 6 | 20 | 21 | 10 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | 1 | – | – | – |
| 3 | Assam | 8 | 39 | 8 | 3 |
| 4 | Bihar | 119 | 335 | 203 | 61 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | 7 | 17 | 38 | 8 |
| 6 | Delhi | 81 | 186 | 185 | 83 |
| 7 | Goa | 1 | – | 2 | – |
| 8 | Gujarat | 9 | 36 | 33 | 117 |
| 9 | Haryana | 39 | 69 | 83 | 43 |
| 10 | Himachal Pradesh | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 | J&K | 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 12 | Jharkhand | 17 | 49 | 185 | 96 |
| 13 | Karnataka | 18 | 69 | 18 | 10 |
| 14 | Kerala | 11 | 13 | 13 | 1 |
| 15 | Madhya Pradesh | 26 | 55 | 57 | 23 |
| 16 | Maharashtra | 24 | 150 | 88 | 44 |
| 17 | Manipur | – | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Meghalaya | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 19 | Mizoram | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Nagaland | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 21 | Orissa | 16 | 39 | 57 | 25 |
| 22 | Punjab | 14 | 32 | 20 | 13 |
| 23 | Rajasthan | 24 | 45 | 54 | 23 |
| 24 | Sikkim | – | – | – | – |
| 25 | Tamil Nadu | 16 | 46 | 57 | 18 |
| 26 | Telangana | 3 | 18 | 33 | – |
| 27 | Tripura | – | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 28 | Uttarakhand | 14 | 27 | 37 | 24 |
| 29 | Uttar Pradesh | 343 | 589 | 507 | 307 |
| 30 | West Bengal | 51 | 213 | 150 | 69 |
| 31 | A&N Island | – | – | – | 1 |
| 32 | Chandigarh | – | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| 33 | D& N Haveli | – | 2 | – | – |
| 34 | Daman & Diu | – | – | – | – |
| 35 | Lakshadweep | – | – | – | 1 |
| 36 | Puducherry | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 37 | Ladakh | – | – | – | – |
| TOTAL | 855 | 2076 | 1869 | 998 | |
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