New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) Delhi government will issue two lakh fresh ration cards this year, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Friday.
Addressing a programme marking the first anniversary of her government in North West Delhi district, Gupta said new ration cards were not issued in Delhi in many years.
“We are going to issue two lakh ration cards this year,” she stated.
According to officials, there are over 17 lakh ration card holders in Delhi, involving nearly 73 lakh public distribution system (PDS) beneficiaries provided monthly quota of ration through around 2,000 fair price shops.
Recently, a verification drive was undertaken by the Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Department of Delhi government, and notices were issued to 2.76 lakh ration card holders.
Just over 1,000 ration card holders replied to the notices, officials said.
Under the new rules, those living in A-E category colonies, holding government jobs, paying income tax, owning four wheelers and having power connections above 2 KW are ineligible for ration cards.
The government is likely to soon take a call to cancel the ration cards issued to ineligible beneficiaries, officials said.
The verification exercise has revealed that 1.59 lakh ration card holders own property, more than 77,000 own vehicles, 19,000 are company directors, while 16,000 held ration cards in other states, they said.
The government recently notified the Delhi Food Security Rules, 2026, changing the annual income criterion for issuing ration cards to Rs 1.20 lakh from existing Rs 1 lakh per annum.
Under the new rules, only online applications for ration cards will be accepted in Delhi, and each member of the household will be required to furnish their Aadhaar numbers, officials said.
According to a standard operating procedure issued by the government, now, district level committees headed by the district magistrates will decide on issuing ration cards giving priority to needy people.
Earlier, first come first serve criterion was used to issue ration cards on applications received. PTI VIT VIT ARB ARB
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