Over 400 ration cards surrendered in 45 days

PANAJI
Over 400 ration cards were ‘surrendered’ in Goa in the last 45 days by beneficiary families whose annual income increased and breached the category limits.

Most of the surrendered ration cards – 246 in North Goa and 141 in South Goa – are of beneficiary families from the poorest categories under the National Food Security Act. 

Civil Supplies Department officials said, 89 per cent of the surrendered cards are from the NFSA and BPL categories while just 10 per cent are APL (above poverty line) cards.

Also, in the same 45-day period 100 new APL ration cards were issued, mostly to those beneficiary families who surrendered their NFSA and BPL cards.

According to official figures, the State has over 2.62 lakh ration cards which are active to date. Of these, 1.24 lakh cards are PHH (Priority Household cards) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards covered by the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The balance 1.37 lakh are all above the poverty line (APL).

Officials said, there has been a sharp increase in families surrendering ration cards in July-August. A total of 387 cards coming under the NFSA were surrendered while 44 families holding APL ration cards have surrendered theirs in this 45-day period, they added.

Meanwhile, 103 beneficiary families were issued new cards, mostly from among the 387 who surrendered their NFSA cards and re-applied for APL cards.

All the 103 new cards issued are to families from North Goa.

The rules for ration cards now require beneficiaries to comply with digital KYC formalities compulsorily making it easier for Civil Supplies inspectors to verify the beneficiaries.

According to the new norms, households from the SC/ST community whose annual income exceeds the Rs 50,000–Rs 1 lakh limit must surrender their NFSA cards. They then become eligible to apply for a BPL card, which must again be surrendered if annual income crosses the Rs 5 lakh mark.