Ranchi: Silent or inactive ration cards that have been lying unused for the past six months would be suspended from October 1. Over four lakh ration cards of ineligible beneficiaries have been deleted, the state food, public distribution, and consumer affairs department said on Thursday.Appealing to ineligible families to voluntarily surrender their cards before the next deletion drive begins, department secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma said, “In the past six months, we have deleted about 4 lakh ration cards of people who were ineligible based on various criteria. Many holders were found to be in govt jobs, paying high taxes, possessing four-wheelers, and more. Notices have been served to them to refund the money for the ration that they have procured.”“The automatic identification and deactivation of inactive cards and duplicate beneficiaries on SMART-PDS will begin next month. Post deactivation, beneficiaries will be given three months for e-KYC verification to reactivate the card. Failure to complete e-KYC and verification within the specified timeframe may result in permanent cancellation of the respective ration card,” he stated.The process of inactive card suspension will be a regular activity starting Oct. Ration cards against which no food grains have been collected for six months will be identified on the 21st of every month and automatically deactivated on the 1st of the following month.Duplicate beneficiaries identified through identity-matching systems will also be temporarily deactivated, with SMS notifications sent to the registered mobile number of the head of the family. A time limit of three months will be given for verification and e-KYC. Upon successful verification, the beneficiary will be activated on the eligible ration card, and their name will be removed from other cards. If e-KYC is not completed in time, the beneficiary’s name will be removed from the ration card.Bharat Lohra, a resident of Bajra in Ranchi whose ration card was cancelled, said, “I received a notice two months ago stating that I must repay around Rs 1.2 lakh for availing ration card benefits. When I inquired about it, I was told that I am ineligible as I have a pucca house in my name and own a car. I work as a labour and saved money to build what I have. I was unaware that I was not supposed to receive rations. Now I am worried about how I will arrange the money.”Another beneficiary, Phoolmani Devi, who works as a house help said, “I have not collected ration for the past four months as I was living in my village due to some personal issues. Now, I will have to go and update my documents again if I wish to receive the benefits.”
