Lucknow: The Public Distribution System in Uttar Pradesh has undergone complete transformation in the recent years, thanks to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who has not only made it more transparent, but also ensured that more and more poor and needy persons got benefitted from it. 

In the last six months alone, 1,61, 256 new ration cards have been made by the State Government under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), taking the total number of ration card holders in the state to 3,60,12,758. 

Besides, the Yogi Government has facilitated linking of almost 100 percent (99.79 percent) of the ration cards with Aadhar Card to bring transparency into the public distribution system, which is a milestone in itself. In no other state of the country, such a huge number of ration cards are linked to the Aadhar Card. 

The linking of the ration card with Aadhar card has stopped irregularities in the distribution, so that only those entitled received the supply. Besides, the introduction of e-pass (Point of Sale) machine has further checked corruption on the part of ration dealers. 

The Yogi Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that only the rightful persons receive the ration. 

Arrangements have also been made by the Government to provide ration facility to even those people whose thumb impression did not match. Such people will get the supply on the basis of OTP received by them on their registered mobile phone numbers. 

This year, the UP Government provided free ration to 15 crore people in July and August amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The monthly ration includes three kilograms of wheat and two kilograms of rice to each card holder. 

It is worth mentioning here that during the first wave of novel coronavirus, the Yogi government distributed free ration to eligible card holders for eight months. The State Government had distributed 60 lakh metric tonnes of food grains free of cost between April and November last year at the rate of 5 kg food grains per unit, which is a record in the country. 

According to the officials of the Food Department, providing ration to the poor and needy is one of the priorities of the Yogi Government. The State Government implemented the One Nation One Ration Card scheme in May, 2020. Under the scheme, 87,239 cardholders of the state have collected ration from other states whereas and 8,110 cardholders of other states have taken ration in Uttar Pradesh. The beneficiaries of the scheme from UP in other states include 27,585 workers in Delhi, 20,964 in Haryana and 11,587 workers in Maharashtra. 

Furthermore, the State Government is also cancelling ration cards of those who do not fulfil the criteria prescribed for it, officials said. In rural areas, families who have more than five acres of irrigated land, or whose income is more than Rs two lakh per annum cannot avail the benefit of ration as per law.