New Delhi, February 27 The Delhi government will issue two lakh new ration cards this year, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Friday.
Addressing a programme marking the first anniversary of her government in the North West Delhi district, Gupta said that new ration cards were not issued in Delhi in many years.
"We are going to issue two lakh ration cards this year," she stated.
According to officials, there are over 17 lakh ration card holders in Delhi, involving nearly 73 lakh beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS) who receive a monthly quota of rations through around 2,000 fair price shops.
Recently, the Delhi government's Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Department undertook a verification drive, and notices were issued to 2.76 lakh ration card holders.
Just over 1,000 ration card holders responded to the notices, officials said.
Under the new rules, those living in A-E category colonies, holding government jobs, paying income tax, owning four-wheelers, and having power connections above 2 KW are ineligible for ration cards.
The government is likely to soon decide to cancel the ration cards issued to ineligible beneficiaries, officials said.
The verification exercise has revealed that 1.59 lakh ration card holders own property, more than 77,000 own vehicles, 19,000 are company directors, while 16,000 held ration cards in other states, they said.
The government recently notified the Delhi Food Security Rules, 2026, changing the annual income criterion for issuing ration cards from the existing Rs 1 lakh per annum to Rs 1.20 lakh.
Under the new rules, only online applications for ration cards will be accepted in Delhi, and each member of the household will be required to furnish their Aadhaar numbers, officials said.
According to a standard operating procedure issued by the government, district-level committees headed by the district magistrates will now decide on issuing ration cards, giving priority to needy people.
Earlier, a first-come-first-served criterion was used to issue ration cards based on applications received.
