Odisha Ration Card Cancellation: 34,939 Ineligible Cards Scrapped

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Odisha government cancelled 34,939 ineligible ration cards covering 1,25,963 family members.
Names of 7,75,064 deceased beneficiaries were removed from the database.
The verification drive aims to ensure food security benefits reach only genuine households.

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha ration card cancellation drive has led to the removal of 34,939 ration cards belonging to ineligible beneficiaries, the state government informed the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

Replying to a question raised by Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Krushna Chandra Patra said the cancelled cards accounted for 1,25,963 family members.

The move is part of an ongoing verification drive to clean up the beneficiary database and prevent misuse of subsidised food grains under food security schemes.

Odisha Ration Card Cancellation Drive Removes Deceased Beneficiaries

The government also removed 7,75,064 deceased individuals from the ration card database during the verification process.

Officials said the step was taken to ensure transparency and prevent the misuse of benefits meant for eligible families.

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The data suggests the verification exercise has been ongoing for the past two years as part of efforts to improve the efficiency of the food distribution system.

Districts With Highest Number of Ineligible Ration Cards

According to the minister, several districts reported a significant number of ineligible ration cards.

Some of the highest numbers were recorded in:

Khurda district – 4,932 cards affecting 19,026 members
Cuttack district – 2,870 cards affecting 10,593 members
Sundargarh district – 2,430 cards
Mayurbhanj district – 2,154 cards

Other districts such as Nayagarh district, Balasore district, Keonjhar district and Angul district also recorded a notable number of ineligible cards.

Deletion of Deceased Beneficiaries Across Districts

In terms of removal of beneficiaries who had passed away, several districts recorded large numbers of deletions.

The highest figures were reported in:

Ganjam district – 64,729 individuals
Mayurbhanj district – 53,259 individuals
Keonjhar district – 49,359 individuals
Cuttack district – 40,119 individuals

Other districts including Koraput district, Balasore district, Kalahandi district and Nabarangpur district also reported substantial deletions.

New Ration Card Applications and Approvals

The minister informed the Assembly that the government has received 17,38,946 applications for new ration cards.

Out of these:

8,58,654 applications were found ineligible after field verification
4,96,919 new ration cards have been issued, benefiting 9,83,900 people
3,83,373 applications are currently under verification

Eligible applicants will receive ration cards after the verification process is completed.

Food Security Coverage in Odisha

According to government data, 1,00,96,299 families with 3,28,52,433 members are currently covered under the state’s food security system.

Among them:

12,38,321 families (34,35,642 members) fall under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana category.
85,59,251 families (2,88,54,050 members) are covered under the Priority Household (PHH) category of the National Food Security Act.

The government said the continuous verification process aims to ensure that only genuine beneficiaries receive subsidised food grains while removing duplicate or ineligible entries from the system.

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