Agartala, Feb 6 (IANS): The Tripura government has identified 62,173 fake ration cards involving 2.81 lakh people, a state minister said here on Wednesday.

"After the computerisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS), 62,173 fake ration cards were identified. Around 2,81,000 people were holding these bogus ration cards," Tripura Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Monoj Kanti Deb told IANS.

He said a large number of them might be Bangladesh nationals.

There are 9,08,212 ration cards belonging to 36,86,216 people under 1,809 ration shops in Tripura.

"Despite thorough inquiry, there is no trace of these 2,81,000 people against whom various commodities were issued through the PDS," the minister said.

Starting Thursday, masoor dal would also be distributed through the PDS. Currently, rice, flour, sugar, salt and kerosene are being distributed via PDS at a discounted rate.

"With Aadhaar number seeding, the end-to-end computerisation of the PDS was completed in Tripura last year," Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department's Director-cum-Secretary Debasis Basu said.

"It is the first state in the Northeast to complete digitalisation. All food offices, godowns, fair price shops and related systems have been digitalised ," he added.