The Union Government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Jammu and Kashmir has deleted nearly 50,000 ration cards between 2021 and 2025 as part of a nationwide verification drive under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
According to details received by The Chenab Times, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution stated that 33,677 cards were removed in 2021, 2,927 in 2022, 5,403 in 2023, 4,767 in 2024, and 3,036 in 2025 (till date), bringing the total to 49,810 in J&K.
Information was available with The Chenab Times that the deletions followed a data-analytics exercise using Aadhaar, income tax, vehicle registration and other databases to identify ineligible beneficiaries, including those over 100 years of age, duplicates, silent cards and single-member cards registered under minors.
In Ladakh, 2,081 ration cards were deleted during the same period.
Nationwide, States and Union Territories have removed over 2.12 crore ineligible beneficiaries so far. An additional 2.25 crore cards were weeded out through digitisation, Aadhaar seeding and tracking of deaths or migration.
The verification aims to ensure subsidised foodgrains reach only eligible households under the Targeted Public Distribution System. Identification and issuance of ration cards remain the responsibility of the respective UT administrations.
The Chenab Times News Desk
