Ludhiana, June 30 -- Ludhiana district has reported the highest number of unverified Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries in Punjab following the conclusion of the Centre's e-KYC drive under the flagship 'One Nation One Ration Card' (ONORC) scheme on June 30, officials familiar with the matter said.

According to official data, nearly 3.6 lakh beneficiaries in Ludhiana have failed to complete their biometric authentication, amounting to around 10% of such cases across Punjab. These individuals are now likely to be weeded out from the PDS system, which provides free wheat to eligible ration card holders, officials said.

Notably, Punjab has a total of 33,48,204 ration card beneficiaries where Ludhiana alone accounted for over 18....