Assam: Over 30,000 beneficiaries deleted from NFSA database

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In the first 5 months of this calendar year, the names of a total of 30,467 beneficiaries receiving rations under the PDS in Assam were deleted from the National Food Security Act (NFSA) database. More than 16,000 ration cards containing the names of the ineligible beneficiaries were cancelled as a consequence.

Currently, 70,39,772 ration cards are in existence in Assam. Of this, Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards number 6,69,800 and Priority Household (PHH) cards are 63,69,972 in number. In the existing 70,39,772 ration cards, a total of 2,45,44,700 beneficiaries are involved.

It needs to be mentioned that deletion of ration cardholders' names is a continuous process. Of late, the government has clamped down on ineligible beneficiaries taking advantage of the PDS scheme. Also, many beneficiaries voluntarily surrendered their ration cards in view of the norms, making them ineligible to receive such benefits.

According to the National Food Security portal of the central Department of Food and Public Distribution, the names of 1,754 beneficiaries were deleted from the NFSA database in January 2025, 9,191 in February, 3,852 in March, 10,433 in April, and 5,237 in the month of May 2025. During the period from January to May 2025, as many as 16,176 ration cards were scratched from the system.

The deletion of ration cards is a continuous process, and the authorities concerned examine the cards and delete those found ineligible.

Sources revealed that one of the reasons for ration card deletion is non-linkage of Aadhaar Card by some beneficiaries. Other reasons include ineligible beneficiaries who were availing themselves of the benefits and cards continuing to be active even though the beneficiaries had expired. After verification, the discrepancies were discovered by the authorities, and the cards were deleted from the database of NFSA.

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