New Delhi, February 12 The eldest female member of a family will be considered the head of the household for issuing ration cards under the Delhi Food Security Rules, 2026, which were recently notified.
However, if the sole female member in the family is under 18 years of age, the eldest male member will be considered the head.
The number of ration cards allocated to Delhi will be grouped district-wise, proportional to the total number of voters in the area, according to a gazette notification. The criterion for determining eligibility based on voter registration will be switched to a census-based criterion as soon as the results of the ongoing population enumeration operations are available for official use.
Furthermore, the income criterion for issuing ration cards has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.2 lakh per annum, as per the rules issued by the Delhi government's Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs department.
The rules have also institutionalized grievance redressal and vigilance mechanisms within the public distribution system (PDS) through multiple committees at the district, ward, and fair price shop levels.
In the event of the death of the declared female head of the household, the eldest woman in the family may apply to be designated as the new head, the notification states.
Applications for ration cards will be processed by a committee constituted at the district level. The district magistrate (DM) or the additional DM will head the committee, which will also include two local MLAs.
Besides existing applications, the committee may also invite fresh applications from other "poorest of the poor" sections, the notification stated.
Ration cards will not be issued to households that own buildings or land in A-E category colonies in Delhi, pay income tax, own a four-wheeler, if any member is a government employee, or have a power connection exceeding 2 KW.
The internal grievance redressal mechanism will involve three committees at the circle, district, and state levels, to be headed by Food Supplies officials. Under the external grievance redressal mechanism, the ADM concerned will serve as the district grievance redressal officer to handle complaints from PDS beneficiaries, as stated in the notification.
A State Food Commission will deal with any complaint related to an order passed by the district grievance redressal officer.
Members of Parliament and MLAs concerned will be members of the district and block-level vigilance committees, respectively. These committees will also include representatives of ration card holder groups, the notification added.