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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4135
TO BE ANSWERED ON 12TH AUGUST, 2026
FAMILIES IDENTIFIED UNDER NFSA
4135 DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE:
Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased
to state:
(a) the number of families identified under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) whose
ration cards have been cancelled or suspended in the country during the last five years, State and
year-wIse;
(b) the number of instances of biometric authentication failures, server downtime or other digital
verification-related glitches at Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in the State of Maharashtra that resulted in
denial of or delay in the distribution of foodgrains to eligible beneficiaries;
(c) whether the Government has conducted any review to assess the impact of the authentication
process, exclusion related errors or the implementation of new system on the access of
marginalised communities to the benefits;
(d) if so, the details thereof in respect of Maharashtra; and
(e) if not, whether the Government proposes to undertake such a review?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS,
FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)
(a): A statement showing State-wise and year-wise number of deleted ration cards during the
last five years is at Annexure.
(b): No such instances have been reported to this Department.
The Department has provisioned multiple authentication modes under the Public
Distribution System (PDS), including Single Finger, Fusion Finger, IRIS, and Aadhaar-based OTP
authentication.
In cases where authentication by one household member fails, other eligible family
members linked to the ration card are permitted to authenticate and draw foodgrains. Additionally,
a nominee facility has been provided in exceptional cases, allowing beneficiaries to authorise
another individual to lift ration on their behalf. The e-PoS devices have a functionality to work inoffline mode with limited/ no internet connectivity. The e-PoS devices are required to periodically
connect to the network to synchronize offline transaction data with the PDS online system.
All States/UTs have been advised that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be denied
from receiving entitled quota of subsidised foodgrains due to failure of biometric/Aadhaar
authentication due to rletworldconnectivity/linking related issues, other technical reasons or poor
biometrics of the beneficiary.
These measures ensure that eligible beneficiaries are not denied or delayed their entitlements.
(c) to (e): in order to strengthen the monitoring of NFS A implementation and to provide a more
in-depth, incisive and comprehensive empirical evidence on regular basis, the Department of Food
and Public Distribution has conducted the concurrent evaluation of PMGKAY during 2025-26.
The Report of the same is available in public domain at https://dfpd.gov.in/pmgkay-concurrent-
evaluation/en
#####Annexure referred to in the reply to Part (a) ofUnstarred Question No. 4135 in the Lok
Sabha on 12.08.2026.
Annexure
STATUS OF DELETED RATION CARDS (2021-2025)
1 1
SI. I State/UT 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
1 1A ndhra Pradesh 13, 128 130,94,232 152,610 1512 102
196 1950
2 1A ndaman & Nicobar 147 19,215 150,681
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1,151 1328 1268 1.128
4 Assam 1 1,120 128.590 138.590 1,61.516 124,381
5 Bihar 15,678 1.61 ,809 b,49,525 16,86,266 1 ,49,043
6 Chandigarh i84 12,291 1207 12.40 1
7 Chhattisgarh 1lo.400 I 129, l08g 157.371 110,496
8 Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu 12.454 173 I 151 1,101
9 Delhi 148 116 13,686 161 ,292 11,438
10 Goa 1805 12,1 17 15,801 166 13,467
11 Gujarat 12,1 9, 151 1,32,519 1,35,362 130,889
12 Haryana 1 ,96, 174 18,49,972 13,28.557 1 ,34,3474
13 Himachal Pradesh 12,538 13,299 17,55 1 1,673 17,400
14 Jammu and Kashmir 133,677 12.927 15,403 14.767 13,036
15 Jharkhand 175, 137 129,77 1 16.374 )7,730
16 Karnataka 142,558 148.477 174.40 1 127,l 05 150.594
17 Kerala 1,04,5 1 1 1 ,998 [0.800 11.555 17,26 1
18 Ladakh 1614 130 158 615 1764
19 L,akshadweet 138 189 188 132
20 Madhya Pradesh 198,186 .96.092 17,04,848 12,60,285
21 Maharashtra 136.119 1 ,44,985 1,0 1 .676 1.74.342 1.33.469
22 !Vlanipur 9,4 1 1 130,493 1.684 17.21 5 16.5 15
23 Meghalaya 1402 1,612 [49 102
24 N4izoram 1 ,637 13,61 7 L,115 12,548 1742
25 Nagaland 13.428 131, 77 13,924 1 ,347
26 Odisha 164.1 22 131 .240 19,420 1 ,21.134
27 Puducherry 1,731 1538 1847 1898 1763
28 Punjab 13,305 1 ,52,497 1,23,722 17,520 12,290
29 1 ,35,283 12,65,390 b6,386 1 , 03,444 6,05,826
30 Sil<kim .58 0 ;04 12,116
31 Tamil Nadu 1.00.942 186,150 173.875 13.905 133.339
32 Telangana F.988 134.064 13.424 1 ,40,947
33 Tripul'a 1 , 100 1,254 1800 F67 14.334
34 Uttar Pradcsh 171, 9,213 19,99, loo 17,oo1,3 8 18,41, 123 15,97,0 1 2
35 Uttarakh,Ind D.712 166,627 ).69 1 1,589 13.014
36 West Bengal 12,93.326 16,47,o03 17,56,860 15,09,952 13.74.5 19
Grand Total 129,02,794 163,80,274 k 1 ,99,373 18,85,259 1 ,41 ,385
#####