Officials scan Aadhaar-based list of ration card holders, rural ministry’s data on deprived households

The government is planning to enhance welfare schemes for villagers by making sure that all eligible people in various databases in different ministries get the benefits.
Officials said they have begun the process by looking at the Aadhaar-based list of ration card holders and the rural development ministry’s data on deprived household.

“The convergence of data will help in mapping the eligible people in rural areas who are still not covered under Food Security Act that provides rice and wheat at subsidised prices. At the same time, it will bring a fair picture of rural households in the country which are deprived of basic amenities. This will also help government to reach out to people who are in need,” said a food ministry official.

Last week, a meeting was held in which secretaries from food, Panchayatiraj and rural development ministries, officials from NITI Aayog and food secretaries of various states deliberated on the matter. The government has database of more than 800 million beneficiaries covered under Food Security Act. It has implemented ‘one nation one ration card’ scheme in 28 states and Union territories covering 686 million people where a person can get subsidised food grains from any ration shop irrespective of the state, municipality or panchayat where the person is registered.

“We expect to implement this scheme across the country much before the deadline of March 2021. This scheme will enable migrant workers and their family members to access Public Distribution System benefits from any Fair Price Shop in India — a need which was badly felt during lockdown,” the official said.

The rural development ministry has conducted a nationwide survey on delivery of basic services under the campaign on Constitution and Fundamental Duties & National Event.

This is an assessment of deprived households captured under SECC 2011 data would be done regarding their ease of living on 16 household parameters on which centre’s flagship programmes have focused such as PM Awas Yojana - Gramin, UJJWALA and other welfare schemes targeted at rural population. This will capture the change in deprivation status of the household at local bodies level. “By tallying the two databases, we will be able to identify real beneficiaries and we can reach out to those who are not covered in one or the other list. We need to have a comprehensive data base to run any government scheme successfully,” the official said.