{"id":59416,"date":"2025-11-19T19:25:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T13:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=59416"},"modified":"2025-11-20T12:18:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:48:18","slug":"nfsa-ineligible-beneficiaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/19-11-2025\/nfsa-ineligible-beneficiaries","title":{"rendered":"Removing of Ineligible Beneficiaries from NFSA List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Food Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Union Government has removed <strong>around 2.25 crore ineligible beneficiaries<\/strong> from the free monthly ration scheme under the <strong>National Food Security Act (NFSA)<\/strong> over the past four to five months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Overview of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It represents a <strong>shift from a welfare-based approach<\/strong> to a <strong>rights-based framework, <\/strong>as the <strong>right to food <\/strong>is implicit in the <strong>right to life under Article 21<\/strong> of the Indian Constitution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It aims to provide subsidized foodgrains to a large portion of India\u2019s population. It amounts to roughly <strong>81.35 crore people <\/strong>under the <strong>Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)<\/strong>, based on the <strong>2011 Census<\/strong> data. It covers:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Up to 75%<\/strong> of the <strong>rural population;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Up to 50%<\/strong> of the <strong>urban population;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Categories of Beneficiaries: <\/strong>The Act divides beneficiaries into two main groups:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) Households<\/strong>: Entitled to <strong>35 kg of foodgrains per month<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Priority Household (PHH) Individuals:<\/strong> Entitled to <strong>5 kg of foodgrains per person per month<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Currently, <strong>free foodgrains (wheat and rice)<\/strong> are distributed every month to poor households under these categories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Scale of Distribution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India currently has <strong>over 19 crore ration card holders, <\/strong>and <strong>around 5 lakh fair price shops<\/strong> operating across States and Union Territories.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This vast network plays a vital role in <strong>ensuring food security<\/strong> for millions of citizens every month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It leverages the existing infrastructure of the <strong>Public Distribution System (PDS)<\/strong> and integrates schemes like the <strong>Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/06-09-2022\/integrated-child-development-scheme-icds\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/06-09-2022\/integrated-child-development-scheme-icds\">Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Targeting Only \u2018Rightful\u2019 Beneficiaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government\u2019s objective is to make the NFSA more <strong>focused and transparent<\/strong>, ensuring that only <strong>genuine beneficiaries<\/strong>\u2014those who truly need assistance\u2014receive the benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Department of Food and Public Distribution<\/strong> identified ineligible individuals using various criteria and <strong>shared the lists with State governments<\/strong> for verification and deletion.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It used <strong>data triangulation and Aadhaar-based verification<\/strong> to identify and remove ineligible names.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Key reasons for removal included:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ownership of <strong>four-wheelers;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High income<\/strong> above the eligibility threshold;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Company directorships;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Deceased beneficiaries<\/strong> still listed under the scheme;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Continuous Verification and Updates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>States and Union Territories<\/strong> are responsible for identifying beneficiaries, issuing ration cards, and conducting regular updates.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The deletion of ineligible beneficiaries and inclusion of new eligible ones is a <strong>continuous process<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As of <strong>July 2025<\/strong>, the Union government informed Parliament that against the target of <strong>81.35 crore beneficiaries<\/strong>, only <strong>80.56 crore<\/strong> had been identified\u2014leaving scope for the addition of <strong>0.79 crore more beneficiaries<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Broader Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reduce fiscal leakage and improve targeting of subsidies;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free up resources for other welfare programs;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enhance public trust in government schemes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/government-prunes-around-225-crore-ineligible-beneficiaries-under-free-ration-scheme-in-last-4-5-months\/article70296370.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Union Government has removed around 2.25 crore ineligible beneficiaries from the free monthly ration scheme under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) over the past four to five months.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Scale of Distribution<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India currently has over 19 crore ration card holders, and around 5 lakh fair price shops operating across States and Union Territories.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">This vast network plays a vital role in ensuring food security for millions of citizens every month.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It leverages the existing infrastructure of the Public Distribution System (PDS) and integrates schemes like the Mid-Day Meal Scheme and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/19-11-2025\/nfsa-ineligible-beneficiaries\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59416"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59493,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59416\/revisions\/59493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}