Over 11 lakh people awaiting ration cards: Delhi Cabinet nod to new food security policy

According to a government document, 11,65,965 crore people in Delhi are awaiting food security — subsidised food grains — with more than 3.89 lakh applications pending for ration cards.

Under the new policy, the government aims to create a robust end-to-end framework, built on three core pillars – fair identification, need-based prioritisation and accountability.

It also proposes that to prioritise the “poorest of the poor”, district-level committees will be constituted, which will have the power to scrutinise and approve applications for ration cards. “The committees will prioritise and serialise all approved applications, ensuring that the most needy are at the front of the line, and maintain a 20% waiting list to fill up vacancies as they arise,” said an official.

Officials added that ration cards will be allocated based on voter population in districts until new Census data is available.

The committee will be led by the district magistrate or the additional district magistrate as chairperson and will comprise concerned MLAs, area sub-divisional magistrate and the assistant commissioner of police.

Further, officials said, the government plans to set up a multi-tiered grievance system and vigilance committee at four levels – minister, MP, MLA and food safety officer – to ensure ground-level accountability.

Officials said the government had in 2024 started a drive to verify ration card holders to weed out duplication, prevent fraud and ensure transparency.

The drive, which officials said picked up last year, has so far weeded out 8,27,756 ration card holders. According to documents of the Food and Supplies department, while 95,658 of these ineligible ration card holders were found to be silent beneficiaries, 23,394 were duplicate beneficiaries, 6,185 were found dead, and 646,123 did not meet the income cap criteria. Further, 56,372 beneficiaries themselves requested that their ration cards be cancelled.

Officials said that currently, verification is underway for those owning land and vehicles as well as those possessing a GSTIN (GST Identification Number). “This will potentially create more vacancies,” said an official.

Prior to 2024, the last time ration cards holders were examined was in 2013. “The verification process should be held every five years, so that ineligible card holders can be removed and the needy can be added,” said an official.

“The National Food Security Act, 2013, has mandated the creation of rules for 11 key areas. But even after more than a decade, critical gaps remain…,” said the official.

Recently, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had announced an increase of annual family income eligibility criteria from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.2 lakh for those applying for a ration card.

Last week, she had said that a huge backlog has been created over the years due to lack of clear rules. “The decision has been taken towards the effective and just implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013. With the help of the new rules, a technology-driven, fair, and transparent PDS is being developed, which will prevent misuse and ensure that benefits reach those who genuinely need them.”