I-T dept to assist food ministry in tracing false beneficiaries of PMGKAY

The income tax department will share data with the Food Ministry to weed out ineligible beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

Under the PMGKAY, free ration is provided to poor families who do not pay income tax.

The government has budgeted Rs 2.03 lakh crore towards PMGKAY in FY26, higher than Rs 1.97 lakh crore in the revised estimates for the current fiscal.

In an office order, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the Director General of Income Tax (Systems) will be the authority to furnish information to the Joint Secretary Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

As per the sharing mechanism, DFPD shall furnish the Aadhaar Number or PAN along with the Assessment Year(s) to DGlT (Systems), New Delhi. If the PAN is provided or the provided Aadhaar is linked with PAN, DGIT (Systems), New Delhi shall furnish the response to DFPD regarding the threshold income as per the I-T department database.

If the provided Aadhaar Number is not linked to any PAN in the I-T database, DGIT (Systems), New Delhi, will inform the DFPD.

The frequency of furnishing such response and mode of exchange of information shall be decided by the DGlT (Systems) and DFPD.

To facilitate the process of furnishing information, DGIT (Systems) would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DFPD.

The MoU would include the mode of transfer of data, maintenance of confidentiality, mechanism for safe preservation of data, weeding out after usage, etc.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was launched with the specific purpose of ameliorating the hardships faced by the poor and needy due to economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The period for distribution of free-of-cost food grains under the PMGKAY has been extended for five years with effect from January 1, 2024.