Ration Cards

The government's massive digitisation push has transformed India's Public Distribution System (PDS), setting new benchmarks for food security programs globally, the Union Food Ministry said on Wednesday. The overhaul of the system, which serves 80.6 crore beneficiaries, has led to the removal of 5.8 crore fake ration cards through Aadhaar-based authentication and electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) verification, it said in a statement. "These efforts have resulted in substantial reductions in leakages and enhanced targeting," the ministry added. According to the ministry, nearly all 20.4 crore ration cards have been digitised, with 99.8 per cent linked to Aadhaar and 98.7 per cent beneficiaries' credentials verified through biometric authentication. The ministry has deployed 5.33 lakh e-PoS devices across fair price shops nationwide, enabling Aadhaar-based authentication during distribution and ensuring the rightful targeting of beneficiaries. "Today Aadhaar authentication is use

We have lost our patience, the Supreme Court has said while expressing concern over delay by the states and Union Territories in providing ration card to the migrant workers. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah granted a final opportunity to the Centre, states and Union Territories (UTs) to take necessary steps in this regard by November 19. "We have lost our patience, we are making it very clear that there will be no more indulgence. "We are giving you one last window to comply with our order or your secretary will remain present," the bench said. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, informed that only one ration card is issued per priority household under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. The top court was hearing a suo motu case registered in 2020 after taking cognizance of problems and miseries of the migrant labourers during COVID. The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to file an affidavit giving details about compl

The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday decided to extend the benefits of free medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh every year to all ration card holders of the state under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Talking to PTI, after a cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Samat Chaudhary, said, It's a major decision taken by the NDA government in Bihar. It will now extend the AB PM-JAY to all ration card holders of the state. At present, around 1.2 crore people in Bihar are availing the facility of the AB PM-JAY. Now, around 58 lakh people, who are beneficiaries under the National Food Security (NFS) Act, will also be covered under the scheme, he said.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the Odisha government on Monday decided to distribute Rs 1,000 one-time assistance to all ration card holders and provide interest-free loans up to Rs 1 lakh to 2 lakh youths of the state. The cabinet of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved a total of 26 proposals, including the distribution of Rs 1,000 livelihood assistance to 95.90 lakh PDS beneficiary families, state Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak told reporters after the cabinet meeting. The minister said that the public distribution system (PDS) beneficiary families face hardship in fetching different items for consumption due to the rise in market prices, which is why the one-time assistance would be provided. The government also decided to provide two jute bags of 20 kg and 10 kg capacity to each of the PDS families for their daily use, free of cost, Nayak said, adding that the fund requirement for procurement and distribution of the jute bag

Nineteen days after an Enforcement Directorate team was assaulted by a mob, ED sleuths again conducted a raid at the residence of absconding TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday morning in connection with its probe into the alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam, an officer said. Accompanied by over 120 personnel of the central armed police force, the ED officers broke open the collapsible gate of the residence of Sheikh in Sandeshkhali area in the presence of local police and two locals as witnesses, the officer said. "We will search Sheikh's house today. We will also try to talk to the residents there", the ED officer told PTI. After entering the house, the ED officers locked the gates from inside and started searches, he added. On January 5, a team of ED officers were assaulted by a mob when they tried to enter the residence of the TMC leader. Three officers were injured in the attack. The district police and Sheikh's family members had .

Ration card distribution to over 42 lakh new beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) has started in Assam, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launching it in his constituency Jalukbari. Sarma, attending the launch programme at Boripara area on Tuesday, termed it a milestone event in the current government's regime. A total of 42,85,745 new beneficiaries will be covered under the NFSA in the state, with ceremonial distribution of ration cards to be held across the state, an official release said. "This is another milestone in the current government's quest for achieving food security of all its residents," Sarma said. He said every member of ration card-holder families are entitled to 5 kgs of rice every month free of cost. He said this facility is available every month during the "anna sewa saptah" and that for this month, this shall be available till January 31. Mentioning of social sector schemes such as Antyodaya Anna Yojana, Sarma said those belonging t

The Chief Minister, during the meeting, also took stock of the progress of distribution of ration cards to the beneficiaries

Jharkhand minister Rameshwar Oraon on Thursday said the government would have to go for "alternative arrangements" for ration distribution if fair price shop (FPS) dealers in the state continued with their indefinite 'Ration Bandh'. More than 25,000 FPS dealers in Jharkhand on January 1 joined the nationwide indefinite 'Ration Bandh' call given by the All India Fair Price Shop Dealers' Federation. The strike has impacted over 65 lakh beneficiaries of central and state food security schemes in Jharkhand. Speaking to PTI, Oraon, the state Food and Public Distribution Minister, said, "The state government is holding talks with the FPS dealers for a solution to the matter. Our department secretary Amitabh Kaushal has held a discussion with them on their demands and they are satisfied with the reply of the government. Their demands are already under consideration. So, there is no issue. Since it is a nationwide strike, they might be waiting for a call from their national front, he said.

Ration card portability gained traction across India this year, as 28 crore transactions were recorded in the first 11 months of 2023, according to the food ministry. Started in August 2019, in just four states, inter and intra-state portability under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) service has been enabled in all 28 states and 8 Union Territories. The objective of the ONORC was to empower poor beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), espcially migrants, to avail subsidised ration seamlessly from any e-PoS (electronic point of sale device) enabled ration shops in the country with biometric or aadhar authentification at the time of lifting of the foodgrain through portability. Further, their family members back home can also lift balance requirement of foodgrains on the same ration card. "About 28 crore portability transactions were performed in 11 months of 2023 delivering more than 80 lakh tonne foodgrains including inter-state and intra-state portability

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 4 announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana scheme for another five years

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on Monday demanded the Arvind Kejriwal government conduct a survey for issuing new ration cards. The BJP leader claimed that no new cards were provided to the people in the national capital in the last eight years. Over 3 lakh people have already applied for ration cards in Delhi and poor families are waiting for it for many years, he said. "Since the formation of the Kejriwal government, no new ration cards have been issued in Delhi for the past eight years, leaving more than three lakh people waiting for their ration cards. "The Delhi High Court has also recently ordered an inquiry into this matter," Bidhuri said. The government has not conducted any survey so far, so there is no data on the total number of ration cards in Delhi, he said. The Delhi government, in a statement, said that the distribution of ration in the city has been going on smoothly and the distribution figure for the last few months is about 100 per .

The Congress on Monday lashed out at the Modi government, accusing it of playing "petty and vindictive" politics on the issue of food security and sabotaging the Karnataka Congress' guarantee of providing free rice to the poor. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asserted that the Congress Government in Karnataka will not be shaken in its resolve to implement its guarantee. Therefore for the time being, it is launching a scheme today that will transfer Rs. 170 every month to each of the 4.42 crore persons in the state covered by ration cards, he said in a statement. This transfer is equivalent to the amount the state government would have paid the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had the Modi Government not intervened at the last minute and stopped the sale of rice even though there are ample buffer stocks available, the Congress leader said. "The cash transfer scheme launched today by the Congress Government in Karnataka is a befitting reply to the Modi Government's vindictive

Goa's Department of Civil Supplies has now once again drawn attention over alleged mismanagement by supplying rice infested with maggots, mites and fungus to ration card holders in the coastal state

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said families with annual electricity bills up to Rs 12,000 will now also be eligible for BPL ration cards, thus raising this limit from earlier Rs 9,000, but the overall annual income limit will remain unchanged. They will also start receiving ration from this month onwards, according to an official statement. This announcement was made during the chief minister's address to the villagers in Abhimanyupur on the second day of his 'Jan Samwad' programme in Kurukshetra district. The statement said the income limit for Below the Poverty Line (BPL) cards will remain unchanged at Rs 1.80 lakh per annum. Khattar also directed all the departments concerned to inform the beneficiaries of this new provision from Wednesday onwards. Meanwhile, taking cognizance of the women's demand to close illegal liquor vends in Indira Colony, during the second day of Jan Samvad programme in Kurukshetra's Jyotisar, the chief minister issued directions

SC on Thursday directed all states and Union Territories to issue ration cards to migrant workers, who registered themselves on Centre's eShram portals launched for their benefit, within three months

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted another three months to all States and Union Territories to provide rations cards to migrant labourers registered on the e-shram portal for availing benefits of "benevolent schemes" of the government. A bench of Justices MR Shah and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said granting of ration cards to migrant labourers registered on the portal of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment be given wide publicity so that they can avail benefits under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The top court's order came on an application filed by petitioners Anjali Bhardwaj, Harsh Mander and Jagdeep Chhokkar who had sought that ration to the migrant labourers be given irrespective of the quota of ration under the NFSA. On April 17, the top court had said the Centre and state governments cannot deny ration cards to migrant workers solely on the ground that population ratio under the NFSA has not been properly maintained. Observing that every citizen should benefit f

Ration cards of 2.30 lakh families "erroneously" discontinued over income-related errors in the Parivar Pehchan Patra have been reissued after a thorough verification process, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said. Khattar also said that the state government is committed to economically uplifting the poor and needy, according to an official statement issued on Sunday. Devoted efforts have been made to ensure that the benefits of every single welfare scheme reach the actual beneficiaries. The biggest example of these steps can be gauged from the fact that ration cards of 2.30 lakh families whose cards were erroneously deleted due to income-related errors in the Parivar Pehchan Patra have been reissued, said Khattar while interacting with some of such ration card holders through audio conferencing on Saturday. He said the BJP-led government is continuously working for the welfare of those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. Khattar further stated that in January 20

Delhi has accounted for 70 per cent of all One Nation One Ration Card transactions in India since the scheme's implementation here in 2021, said the Economic Survey of Delhi report for 2022-23, tabled in the Assembly on Monday. The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme was implemented in Delhi on July 19, 2021, with with installation of e-PoS devices at fair price shops. In Delhi, ration is distributed through e-PoS devices after biometric (Aadhaar) authentication of beneficiaries. The scheme provides intra-state and inter-state portability of ration cards and enables migrant beneficiaries to access the public distribution system. Under the ONORC scheme, 5,21,994 migrants on an average received ration in 2022-23, the report said. Under Delhi's public distribution system, 5 kg foodgrains (4 kg wheat and 1 kg rice per person per month) is distributed to all food card holders and 1 kg sugar only to Antyodaya Anna Yojana card holders. The number of fair price shops in Delhi in Mar

Of the total eligible 8.66 lakh ration cards under the Above Poverty Line farmers from the drought-prone 14 districts, the Aadhaar seeding of 99.9 per cent has been done

Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana on Friday directed the state government to cancel ration cards issued to ineligible persons after a probe into it. The matter was raised by Samajwadi Party MLA from the Gosaiganj constituency in Ayodhya Abhay Singh during the Question Hour. After the MLA said he was not satisfied with minister Laxmi Narayan Chowdhary's response to the matter raised by him, the speaker issued the direction. The SP MLA asked if the government was aware about a delay in issuing new ration cards in the state by officers of the Food and Civil Supplies Department. He also sought to know from the government how many new ration cards have been issued and how many applications are pending in Ayodhya district from 2018 to December 22, 2022. A written reply to the member's queries came from the chief minister. It was stated that a total of 1,33,03,625 ration cards have been issued in the state against the applications received between April 1, 2018 and December ..