Orissa HC issues directive to remove ambiguity on disbursal of ration benefits

Bench takes note of media report that said over 2,000 were deprived of benefits due to Aadhaar card non-linkage

The Orissa High Court has directed the Odisha government to issue a fresh unambiguous instruction to all District Collectors reiterating that no beneficiary should be deprived of rations because of non-linkage of Aadhaar card with their bank account or seeding in the public distribution system (PDS) database.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice M. S. Raman took cognisance of a news report that said more than 2,000 beneficiaries in Rasulpur block in Odisha’s Jajpur district were deprived of benefits under the National Food Security Act on account of failure to link their Aadhaar card with bank accounts.

The report said PDS dealers stated that they stopped supplying rice to beneficiaries as per a government order that made it compulsory to seed the Aadhaar numbers with bank passbooks.

The Odisha government had earlier submitted before the HC that no one would be deprived of rations due to non-linkage of Aadhaar.

The government counsel referred to the order that says that even those not having Aadhaar would continue to receive the subsidised food grains “by furnishing other proofs such as Aadhaar enrolment ID or a copy of request made for Aadhaar enrolment or electoral photo identity card (EPIC) along with the ration card”.

“Clearly, the instructions have been misconstrued and as a result more than 2,000 beneficiaries in one block have been deprived of the rations,” the Division Bench observed.

A direction is issued to the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department Secretary to issue a fresh unambiguous instruction to all the Collectors reiterating that no beneficiary shall be deprived of rations because of non-linkage of Aadhaar with the Bank Pass Book or seeding in the PDS database, the HC said in the order.