Car owners, company directors — even the dead: Why 6.52 lakh people are ineligible for free ration in Delhi
Officials said the ineligible beneficiaries were identified during a drive launched under the Centre’s nationwide ration card verification campaign, which began in Delhi last July. The data was shared by the Food and Supplies (F&S) Department
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A few months ago, a senior official said the department weeded out 5,261 government employees after they were found ineligible to receive ration (Express Photo)-Nearly 96,000 own private cars.
-Around 2.80 lakh are landowners, income tax payers, and even individuals listed as directors of registered companies.
-89,084 are duplicates.
These individuals are among 6.52 lakh beneficiaries — nearly 10% of the total 72.77 lakh — found ineligible for Delhi’s free ration scheme, according to data shared by the Food and Supplies (F&S) Department.
Run under the Public Distribution System (PDS), the scheme is meant for households with an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh.
Officials said the ineligible beneficiaries were identified during a drive launched under the Centre’s nationwide ration card verification campaign, which began in Delhi last July. However, officials said, the process gained momentum only in January.
A few months ago, a senior official said the department weeded out 5,261 government employees after they were found ineligible to receive ration. It has now shared the list of the remaining ineligible beneficiaries — which includes details like names, ration card numbers and addresses — to Food Supply Officers (FSOs) and Food & Supplies Inspectors (FSIs) of all circles for on-ground verification.
There are a total of 17.46 lakh ration card holders in the city. Among these, 16.80 lakh are Priority Households (PHH) and 66,149 are under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
AAY families get 35 kg of food grains (21 kg wheat, 14 kg rice, 1 kg sugar) every month. PHH ration card holders are provided 5 kg of foodgrains (3 kg wheat and 2 kg rice) per member every month. Officials said since January 2024, ration is being provided for free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for five years.
The findings
Officials said during the drive, they found 89,084 duplicate beneficiaries registered who held ration cards in more than one state. “For instance, a beneficiary has a ration card registered in Delhi as well as in Bihar and is availing free ration in both states,” the official said.
Officials said the F&S department verified the duplicate beneficiaries. “After conducting a field survey and verification of 68,926 beneficiaries, the department has recommended deletion of 27,745 people with duplicate ration cards…,” said officials.
Explaining the process, the official said, “People move from one city to another for work. For instance, a family from Bihar moved to Delhi for work and registered for a ration card here. In such a case, we ascertain whether a person is genuine and deserving. Once we are satisfied, we retain them by cancelling their ration card in the other state…,” the official said. “During this process, we retained 41,181 such beneficiaries in Delhi.”
The official said there are other complicated cases, too.
“For example, there are cases where a household was previously in poor economic condition, but now the children are employed in government jobs,” an official said. “In such cases, we see if the children have moved out and the parents remain without a stable source of income; then we remove only the children’s names from the ration card. However, if the family continues to live together, the entire household is removed from the beneficiary list.”
Additionally, around 10,000 beneficiaries are deceased, and their names will be removed.
The data also shows approximately 1,033 beneficiaries aged between 100 and 120 years — these entries will be deleted after verification.
An official also said, “If any ration card holder owns a piece of land in the A, B, C and D categories, which falls in upscale areas, his or her name will be removed from the list.”
Land in Delhi, an official said, is categorised between A to H as per the area.
Data also showed 1,84,467 are “silent” beneficiaries — people who have not completed their e-KYC (Know Your Customer) and not availed free ration for more than six months.
As part of the drive, the e-KYC process of all ration card holders is also being done. Official records show e-KYC verification of 80% ration card holders has been completed across Delhi. The e-KYC happens only after the ration-card holders produce their Aadhaar details.
The final report of this verification process, the official said, has to be submitted to the Centre by September 30. A government circular issued recently read, “The purpose of this exercise is to maintain transparency and ensure only genuine and eligible households avail benefit under the PDS… conduct field verification wherever necessary, mark and recommend ineligible beneficiaries for deletion…”
However, the official said, the process will need more time to be completed. “We have started vehicle ownership verification now… Earlier, the last date was in March, and it was extended. We expect there will be another extension,” the official said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Delhi’s Food and Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the government is committed to ensuring no eligible ration beneficiary is deprived of their rightful benefits. “The verification process is going on… we are working tirelessly to improve the system and ensure that benefits are accessible to rightful and genuine individuals,” he said.
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