Centre may issue more ration cards after ineligible holders removed: Joshi

Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said there is scope for issuing nearly 3 crore more ration cards to eligible beneficiaries after some state governments removed 2.21 crore ineligible holders from PDS lists.

Addressing the launch of a smart warehousing system, Joshi said the deletions were carried out by state governments following their own criteria, not by the Centre. The food ministry had identified 8.51 crore ineligible beneficiaries, including names of deceased persons, income-tax payers and four-wheeler owners, and forwarded the list to states for action.

“Out of 8.51 crore, states have withdrawn 2.21 crore ration cards. We have not withdrawn,” he said, adding that the exercise was made possible by digitisation of the public distribution system (PDS).

States have been permitted to add eligible beneficiaries, and “nearly 3 crore more ration cards can be issued to eligible people by various state governments,” Joshi told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

He noted that deletions have not been uniform across the country: some states have completed the exercise while others are yet to identify ineligible beneficiaries.

“All put together, now there are 79 crore beneficiaries in the country,” he said, stressing the Centre’s objective is not to save but to ensure foodgrains reach the needy. The target for distributing free foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana remains at 80 crore, he said.

The minister said PDS digitisation has led to 98.5 per cent of foodgrains distributed under PMGKY being authenticated through Aadhaar numbers and ePoS machines.

New technologies are being deployed across PDS operations, including smart warehouses and depots, and the ministry is working towards a fully digital distribution system.

Joshi also claimed that about 25 crore people have moved out of multidimensional poverty since Covid due to implementation of several schemes, including PMGKY, citing international forums such as the IMF and Niti Aayog. On the possibility of an increase in the food subsidy bill this year, he said the government “will be able to manage with the allocation budget”.