Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob on Wednesday said that while the government has not received any communication to disable ration cards that have not been used in the last six months, no one would be excluded from the benefit under the NFSA.
Jacob told a TV channel that the government came to know about it only through news reports, which claimed that around 5.5 lakh non-priority cards and 44,000 priority cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) were inactive for last six months or more.
When the department carried out a detailed inspection of the records it found that 44,000 priority cardholders under NFSA had not withdrawn rations for the last six months, he said.
"While we have received no official instructions to freeze such cards, we looked into the reasons behind the inactivity. According to the preliminary findings, many of these 44,000 households comprise one or two members.
"We have initiated a drive to encourage them to come and withdraw ration so that their cards are not frozen," the minister said.
He also said that inactive cards be reactivated later by carrying out e-KYC and therefore, no one will be excluded from the benefit under the NFSA.
"We also believe it is a basic document and the government policy is that no one should be denied it. So, we will definitely take steps at the state-level to protect them," he assured.
He also said that the government has decided to take up the issue with the Centre based on the news reports as no official communication has come from them.
