Shillong, Oct 28: Commissioner and Secretary in the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Pravin Bakshi, has said that the central government has asked all states to achieve 100 per cent e-KYC through linking Aadhaar numbers with their ration cards but Meghalaya is only of only two states that has fallen behind.
Both Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, the other laggards, have been on the receiving end of criticism from the central government and even the Supreme Court.
“We were called for a parliamentary standing committee meeting and on this matter we were grilled intensively,” Bakshi said during a programme to launch the Aadhaar Mission Mode Project 2.0 and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 3.0 here today. “Our points cut no ice with them.”
The committee pointed out that Meghalaya’s arguments were self-contradictory. Although the state has an e-KYC rate of just 50 per cent (compared to a national average of 97 per cent), its overall Aadhaar saturation is quite good at 85 per cent.
“They are saying that there is a lack of initiative from the state government and the ministry also feels the same thing and the Supreme Court also feels the same,” he said. “The worry is that we are alarmingly coming close to contempt of court.”
Bakshi therefore said that there is a need to have more such campaigns. The court has given enough time, of around one and half years, and Meghalaya must meet its targets by then.
Bakshi also said that there needs to be a change in strategy and more focus should be on Fair Price Shop dealers. He said that ration beneficiaries come every month to the Fair Price Shops to get their subsidised provisions and efforts should be made at that point to get the e-KYC done.
