- By Shibra Arshad
- Fri, 16 May 2025 01:26 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Maharashtra Fake Ration Card: Maharashtra Government Uncovers Large-Scale Irregularities in Ration Card Scheme, as it found nearly 18 lakh of the population enrolled under the scheme were ineligible to avail the benefit, Times Now reported. Mumbai topped the list of ineligible holders, as at least 4.80 lakh food security cards have been cancelled in the city after the Maharashtra administration launched a crackdown on fake enrollments under the scheme, aimed at providing subsidised food grains to the economically deprived section of the society.
The cancelled cards were issued in the name of people who earn hefty incomes and lead comfortable lives, including government employees, traders, and people from higher income groups.
The crackdown revealed large-scale anomalies in the scheme as those ineligible for it were taking subsidised food grains from the government and would sell them to different units like locals, factories, poultry farms, etc., for profit.
An online verification campaign using Aadhaar revealed fake ration cards. By doing e-KYC, authorities were able to identify and weed out bogus cards. So far, 5.20 crore people have completed the verification, while 1.65 crore still need to do it.
The majority of ineligible cardholders belonged to Mumbai, as the maximum number of cards have been cancelled in Mumbai. At least 4.80 cards were cancelled in Mumbai. Thane cancelled 1.35 lakh. Urban areas like Pune are lagging in KYC completion. Bhandara, Gondia, and Satara have done well in e-KYC, the report added.
It is also believed that these fake beneficiaries could include illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and other countries, as per the report.
Ration cards, which do not fall under the specified guidelines by the government, will be cancelled. Cards for dead people, duplicates, or fake identities are also being removed. This process was paused during COVID-19, but has been resumed now as fake ration cards were cancelled in Mumbai.