In the Assembly on Wednesday, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra revealed that there were more than one lakh phantom ration card holders under Odisha's food security program. Up to 1,77, 068 ghost ration card holders were removed from the list following e-KYC verification.

In 2024–2025, the Aadhaar-based e-KYC verification was carried out to increase the transparency of the Odisha food security scheme beneficiary list. According to the Minister, the entire process is ongoing and will continue in the days ahead.


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Two 69,23,830 of the 3,36,35,918 PDS beneficiaries have finished the e-KYC verification process.

According to official data, 6, 19, 836 applications for new ration cards under the state's food security program have been received by the Odisha government. According to reports, the Odisha government has set ten requirements for new ration card issuance and enrollment. The procedure to remove the state's ghost ration card holders and add qualified recipients is already in progress.