New Delhi:
Over 2.48 crore bogus ration cards have been cancelled across the country till the end of March this year, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
"As many as 26 states/union territory governments have reported by March 31, 2012 deletion of 248.05 lakh (2.48 crore) bogus/ineligible ration cards," Food and Consumer Affairs minister K V Thomas said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The special drive to remove the names of ineligible ration card holders has been initiated by the states and union territories since July 2006, he said.
Giving state-wise details, the minister said the highest number of such cases was in West Bengal, where as many as 59.67 lakh bogus ration cards have been cancelled. This is followed by Maharashtra (54.07 lakh), Karnataka (30.19 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (27.27 lakh).
Mr Thomas said no case of bogus Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards in the name of VIPs had come to the notice of the government.
He said that under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), states and union territories are allocated 35 kg of subsidised foodgrain per family per month for all the accepted number of 6.52 crore BPL families including 2.43 crore Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) families.
This is on the basis of 1993-94 poverty estimates of the Planning Commission and the March 2000 population estimates of the Registrar General.
In a bid to ensure that unauthorised people do not avail benefits of the subsidised foodgrains scheme, computerisation of the Public Distribution System is underway.
Some states and union territories like Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have reported that they have already completed digitisation of ration cards, the minister said.