Khurana flags irregularities in around 2.02 lakh ration cards

BJP MLA Harish Khurana on Tuesday said Delhi’s ongoing ration card re-verification drive has flagged irregularities in around 2.02 lakh ration cards involving 7.71 lakh beneficiaries, asserting that no ration card has been deleted and that SMS alerts were sent only for verification. He accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), claiming that during its decade-long rule in Delhi, ration cards were issued even in the names of deceased individuals. Khurana’s remarks followed allegations by AAP leaders regarding “irregularities” associated with the cancellation of numerous ration cards in the city.

In a press conference here, the BJP MLA from Moti Nagar dismissed these allegations as a “deliberate attempt to mislead the public.” “Some jobless opposition leaders are trying to manufacture fake narratives, but the people of Delhi know how ration cards were indiscriminately issued during AAP’s rule,” he said.

Official data shows that 9,22,766 applications for ration cards were submitted in Delhi between 2014 and 2024. “For nearly ten years, ration cards were issued without any meaningful verification. The moment the process was subjected to scrutiny, large-scale irregularities surfaced,” Khurana said.  A review conducted by the BJP government headed by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has found over 2 lakh suspect ration cards, including 6,038 issued in the names of deceased individuals, Khurana claimed.  He further mentioned that 16,000 duplicate ration cards and more than 1.44 lakh cards held by individuals earning more than `6 lakh annually were detected during the review exercise.

In addition, about 35,000 cards and 95,000 beneficiaries were found inactive for over one year. He said eligible beneficiaries are being protected and no cards have been blocked.

To ensure rightful claimants continue receiving food grains, SMS or show-cause notices were sent to 2,76,056 ration card holders for verification. The category-wise breakup includes 19,346 cards linked to company directors, 1,59,944 cards linked to landholders, 77,014 cards linked to motor vehicle owners, 2,700 cards linked to GST holders with turnover above Rs 25 lakh, 988 cards linked to persons aged above 100 years, and 16,064 cards flagged as duplicates in other states.

Khurana added that 3.28 lakh pending applications from 2015 to 2024 will now be disposed of at the district level, and fresh applications will also be invited.

He said 227 representations have been received so far, while a total of 9,22,767 applications were filed during 2015-24. Calling the re-verification drive a legal and routine process, Khurana said it aims to curb leakage and ensure food grains reach genuine beneficiaries.

He alleged that earlier systems allowed self-declaration without verification, leading to fake and duplicate ration cards and diversion of food grains to the black market.

Earlier, Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the BJP government was creating a situation to extract money from poor people for issuing them ration cards. “Around 11 lakh people are waiting to be issued ration cards, but now government committees have been formed to decide who will get them. A total of 8.27 lakh new ration cards are to be issued,” Bharadwaj said, further alleging potential corruption in the issuance of new ration cards.