Ranchi, July 13: The Jharkhand government has cancelled 793 ration cards belonging to beneficiaries who filed Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns indicating an annual business turnover of more than ₹25 lakh, as part of a large-scale verification drive to identify ineligible beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
According to the Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Department, the action follows a six-month verification exercise during which beneficiary records were cross-checked with data from multiple government departments.
The initiative aims to ensure that subsidized food grains are provided only to economically eligible households.
Officials said the department examined beneficiaries across eight categories, including GST return filers, income tax payers, large landholders, duplicate beneficiaries, railway employees, company directors, multiple four-wheeler owners, and deceased persons whose names continued to appear on ration cards.
The verification covered nearly 10.06 lakh beneficiaries across these categories.
Among the 986 GST return filers with an annual turnover exceeding ₹25 lakh, 793 beneficiaries (80.43%) were found ineligible, leading to the cancellation of their ration cards.
Verification of the remaining cases is still in progress.The department also scrutinized 98,817 income tax payers, resulting in the cancellation of 10,847 ration cards.
Similarly, 13,180 ration cards belonging to individuals owning more than one four-wheeler were cancelled after verification.In another significant finding, authorities identified 82,380 duplicate beneficiaries, while 4,704 railway employees were found ineligible under NFSA norms.
The exercise also removed thousands of names of deceased persons whose details had remained in the ration card database despite official death registrations.
Officials said the ongoing verification has also involved examining land ownership records, company directorship data obtained from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and Aadhaar-linked beneficiary information to eliminate duplication and ensure transparency.
The department stated that verification of nearly 22 lakh ration card holders is still pending, and the exercise will continue across all districts of Jharkhand.
The government said the objective of the campaign is to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS), prevent misuse of subsidized food grain schemes, and ensure that benefits reach only genuine and deserving beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act.
