The Maharashtra government has cancelled nearly 18 lakh ration cards after finding that many of the cardholders were not eligible for subsidised food grains. From this, Mumbai had the highest number of cancelled cards, with about 4.80 lakh.
The cancelled cards mostly belonged to people who earn higher incomes. They included traders, government employees, or others who do not qualify for food aid. They were collecting food grains meant for the poor and selling them to homes, factories, and poultry farms for profit.
The issue came to light through an e-KYC drive. The government used Aadhaar to verify the identity of ration card holders online. This effort had paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has now started again to clean the system.
So far, 5.20 crore people have completed the e-KYC process. However, 1.65 crore people are yet to do it. Even though the drive has ended, e-KYC is still open for those who missed it.
Thane cancelled about 1.35 lakh ration cards. Some districts have done better. Bhandara, Gondia, and Satara have shown good results in the verification process. Authorities also suspect that fake ration cards may be used by illegal immigrants to get food grains.
The government is also removing cards that are duplicates or linked to deceased persons. Cards with fake names are also being cancelled.
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