Not just biometric data, fake ration cards used to divert food grains

Efforts of a Right to Information (RTI) activist has not only blown the lid of the compromised biometric data of 1.27 crore ration card holders, but it has revealed how foodgrains were being diverted with the help of fake ration cards.

Ajay Jangid, whose RTI for transaction details of PDS, blew the lid of the fact that food grains were being diverted in the name of relatives of political leaders without their knowledge said that a lot of the ration card in circulation were also fake.

"We believe that a lot of the food diversion happened with the help of fake ration cards. What is unique about the fake ration cards and their details in the system is that the ration card holder's address will be generic rather than specific," said Jangid. He said, for example, fake ration cards will state the address of a person as Ghatlodia instead of a specific address that details the society and house number.

Explaining how the fake ration cards get made, Jangid said that to make a ration card one has to give some identity proof. People give the original voter ID number of an existing person but change their surname. "The system is such that it only matches the first and second name and not the surname. So, I can give say the voter ID number of a person Vasant Rajesh Patel (an example) and get a ration card made in the name of Vasant Rajesh Shah. This happens because the official in-charge checks my voter ID number (which I have given as proof in this case of Vasant Rajesh Patel), the computer matches the first two names (Vasant and Rajesh) and hence finds no reason not to issue me the ration card," said Jangid. He said then the person can continue to get food grains on his ration card if he is listed as a beneficiary.