BENGALURU: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged significant gaps in the data-based audit of Karnataka’s Anna Bhagya scheme, stating that crucial Family and FRUITS databases were not made available for verification of beneficiary eligibility and identification of potentially ineligible households receiving benefits.
According to the audit observations cited in the report, the absence of these datasets restricted the scope of data analysis and cross-verification that could otherwise have been undertaken. The CAG has raised objections with the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs over the limitations faced during the audit.
The findings indicate several instances requiring further verification. The CAG’s preliminary scrutiny found that 8,281 beneficiaries with annual incomes above ₹1.2 lakh were holding BPL ration cards. It also identified 5,13,211 families with annual incomes exceeding ₹1.2 lakh as being included in the BPL category based on the available data.
Multiple ration cards linked to the same Aadhaar number
The audit also detected multiple ration cards linked to the same Aadhaar number. According to the observations, 16,304 such linkages involving active ration cards were identified, raising the possibility of duplicate beneficiary records in the public distribution system database.
The CAG further found that 7,557 government and semi-government employees were included under the priority ration card category. In Bengaluru Urban district, cross-verification with HRMS data identified 97 government employees linked to priority ration cards.
Another significant finding concerned vehicle ownership. By comparing food department records with VAHAN registration data for the period from January 1, 2016 to March 31, 2026, the audit identified 79,940 families owning four-wheelers that continued to remain under the priority ration card category.
The audit also pointed to a large number of inactive cards. As many as 10,11,666 priority ration card beneficiaries had not drawn ration continuously for six months but had not been suspended from the system. In addition, e-KYC had not been completed for all members of 37,30,705 priority ration cards.
Based on the preliminary findings, the CAG has stated that the total number of potentially ineligible ration cards identified was 13,40,124. The figure, however, represents preliminary audit findings and would require verification by the department before individual cards are conclusively treated as ineligible.
High income families are beneficiaries
The audit also found 27,370 professionals, including doctors, chartered accountants, lawyers and architects or engineers, among priority ration card holders. Such cases have been flagged for verification against eligibility criteria.
The CAG further detected instances where the same mobile number was linked to multiple active ration cards. After excluding invalid numbers, 2,08,171 mobile numbers were found linked to more than one ration card. In Bengaluru Urban district, 101 cases were identified where the same bank account number was linked to multiple active ration cards.
Another issue involved income certificates. As many as 94,760 income certificate numbers were reportedly used in connection with more than one active ration card. In some cases, the same certificate was used for between two and 45 ration cards, prompting the CAG to flag the need for stronger verification controls.
The audit limitations became particularly significant because the CAG did not receive access to the Family and FRUITS databases. The Family database could have enabled cross-verification of beneficiary records with socio-economic information and helped determine whether deceased persons continued to remain on ration cards or whether benefits were potentially being drawn after their death.
The absence of the data also prevented the auditors from examining whether urban beneficiary families owned residential properties exceeding 1,000 square feet, which is among the exclusion criteria for BPL and AAY benefits.
FRUITS data was not available to the auditors
Similarly, access to FRUITS data was not available to the auditors. As a result, the CAG could not cross-match ration-card records with landholding information to identify families owning three hectares or more of dry land, or an equivalent extent of irrigated land, which could affect eligibility under the relevant criteria.
The observations have put the focus on the quality of beneficiary databases, inter-departmental data integration and periodic verification of ration cards. The audit also underlines the importance of removing duplicate or outdated records while ensuring that genuinely eligible beneficiaries are not excluded.
Officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department are understood to have discussed the CAG’s objections with Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Minister Rizwan Arshad. The department’s response and any corrective action following the audit observations will determine how the flagged cases are verified and whether ineligible or duplicate ration cards are removed from the system.
The CAG’s observations, therefore, point to both beneficiary-verification issues and limitations in the audit process caused by the non-availability of key government databases. A comprehensive cross-verification using Family, FRUITS, VAHAN, HRMS, Aadhaar, income, bank and other relevant databases are vital for preliminary scrutiny and to check the irregularities.
