E-Paper
Haryana deletes 27 lakh ration cards in four years
The highest number (13.43 lakh) of ineligible ration card holders removed from the list of beneficiaries in 2025 alone; with this, the total number of ration cards in the state now stands at 41.83 lakh
Nearly 27.18 lakh ration cards have been deleted in Haryana in the past four years, with the highest number (13.43 lakh) of ineligible ration card holders removed from the list of beneficiaries in 2025 alone. With this, the total number of ration cards in the state now stands at 41.83 lakh.
The data was furnished by the Union minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, in response to a query from Congress MP Shivaji Bandappa Kalge in the Lok Sabha on August 12. It shows a sharp rise in deletions from Haryana’s database of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The figures revealed that the state, which reported no deletions in 2021, saw the number rise to 1,96,174 in 2022 and jump to 8,49,972 in 2023. The process continued during the election year in 2024 when 3,28,557 cards were deleted. But the figure more than quadrupled to 13,43,474 in 2025.
Haryana’s last year tally was more than twice that of Rajasthan, which recorded 6.05 lakh deletions, followed by followed by Uttar Pradesh (5.97 lakh), West Bengal (3.74 lakh) and Madhya Pradesh (2.60 lakh). Under the nationwide drive, around 2.25 crore ration cards were deleted between 2021 and 2025. Annual deletions stood at 29.02 lakh in 2021, 63.80 lakh in 2022, 41.99 lakh in 2023, 48.85 lakh in 2024 and 41.41 lakh in 2025.
The ministry didn’t spell out state-specific reasons for deletions. But the exercise, the government maintains, is intended to ensure the “rightful targeting” of subsidised foodgrains and plug duplication and leakage in the public distribution system.
With such a large number of cards being removed, however, the question of ensuring that genuine beneficiaries are not inadvertently left out assumes significance. A senior officer from the state’s food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department, requesting anonymity, said the Centre advised states that eligible households should not be denied foodgrain entitlements because of biometric authentication failures, network problems or other technical glitches. Alternative authentication mechanisms, including single-finger and fusion-finger authentication, IRIS and Aadhaar OTP, along with offline e-PoS facilities, have been provided for such situations, he added.
The deletion was largely the part of the evaluation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) during 2025-26 to strengthen monitoring of NFSA implementation.
According to the latest figures, Haryana has 8,37,838 beneficiaries are covered by 2,06,781 Above Poverty Line (APL) ration cards, 7,87,513 beneficiaries under 2,81,685 Antyodaya Anna Yojana ration cards, and around 1.47 crore beneficiaries covered under 36.94 lakh Below Poverty Line ration cards. The total number of ration cards in the state stood at 51,72,270 during the election month of October 2024. The figure fell by 11,03,166 to 40,69,104 in 2025. This year, the number reached 41,83,055 after generation of new cards, officials said.
