Despite deadline extensions, beneficiaries yet to complete process
Panaji: A total of 1,21,277 e-KYC updates under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) ration card scheme and 2,37,812 under the non-NFSA scheme are still pending in the state, officials from the Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said.
This comes despite various efforts made by the department and the central government to assist citizens in completing the mandatory process, including deadline extensions and the recently-launched mobile application, which allows users to complete their e-KYC from home.
The app is aimed at assisting those who face difficulties visiting fair price shops (FPS) or being available during home visits by officials.
e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer) is a digital process used to verify the identity of ration card holders through Aadhaar.
“Despite several steps taken to assist people, a large number of beneficiaries have still not completed their e-KYC,” an official from the Civil Supplies Department said. “The deadline for completing e-KYC was April 30, but we have not received any fresh notification from the Ministry about a new deadline,” the official added.
In earlier phases, field staff visited homes, especially to assist senior citizens in completing their e-KYC. However, on many occasion citizens were not at home during these visits and also found it difficult to visit the fair price shops.
To address the issue, the government launched the ‘Mera KYC’ mobile app, which was introduced in Goa in April. The app enables users to complete the face-based e-KYC using just a smartphone and has already helped many ration card holders in the state complete the process.
However, officials said that “despite all these efforts, including door-to-door visits, deadline extensions, and the launch of the app, a large number of e-KYC updates remain pending in the state.”
