The Jharkhand government on Saturday said Aadhaar card was not mandatory to collect food grains from the public distribution system after a 11-year-old girl allegedly died of starvation. Local activists had alleged that the girl died of starvation on September 28 after her family denied ration for the want of an Aadhar-linked ration card.

Aadhaar card

“Aadhaar card is not mandatory. Any card, including a driver’s license and voter ID card or any specified card, is permissible for procuring food grains,” the state’s Food Minister Saryu Roy said.

A toll free number-1800 212 55 12-hadbeen set up to lodge complaints regarding ration distribution, Roy said, adding that grain banks would also set up in every block.

Meanwhile, a fresh probe announced by Chief Minister Raghubar Das on October 17 had found that the girl died of malaria, officials said. The first probe by a three-member team, which constituted on October 6, also examined the case and found the girl died of malaria, they said.