55 lakh ration cards in Gujarat ‘suspicious’, action against tax payers availing free grains

In a crackdown on those who avail food grains meant for the poor, the Department of Food and Civil Supplies in Gujarat  has discovered over 55 lakh suspicious ration card holders in Gujarat.

It has been found that financially well-off people are also taking advantage of these schemes for the underprivileged. The department found that even landlords, company directors, income tax payers with a turnover of ₹25 lakh also have NFSA (National Food Security Act, 2013) ration cards.

To mitigate this, 15.66 lakh NFSA cards will now be converted into non-NFSA cards.

There are currently 3.65 crore NFSA cardholders in Gujarat.

The state Food and Civil Supplies department has decided to investigate these 55 lakh suspicious ration cards, of which 15,66,492 ration cards were probed in the first phase and have been converted to non-NFSA.

While the underprivileged queue up for these schemes, some of which are devoid of grains, there are some who have availed the scheme with ration cards belonging to dead persons.

While 22,000 ration cards have duplicate names, over 3,500 holders have rations cards from other states.

In Gujarat, free grains including wheat and rice are provided to poor families under the NFSA scheme. In 2022-23, there were 3.45 crore beneficiaries of the scheme. In 2025, the number of people receiving free grain increased to 3.65 crore – an addition of 20 lakh beneficiaries in two years.

While the cancellation of ration cards of well-off holders may be considered a step in the right direction, there has been no action against those who issued such cards.