Bhubaneswar, Sep 24: In a major development, the Odisha government has removed as many as 30,125 ineligible ration cards, impacting over 1.09 lakh individuals across the state, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra told the State Assembly on Wednesday.

Ghost Beneficiaries Purged

Alongside the removal of ineligible cards, the State government also deleted the names of 6,38,996 deceased or ghost beneficiaries from the ration card lists during the e-KYC verification process conducted across the state by September 18, the Minister said.

As per the Minister’s reply, the highest 53,964 people have been excluded from the list in Ganjam district due to death, followed by Keonjhar district (46,334), Sundargarh (33,999), Koraput (33,785), Kalahandi (32,663) and Nabarangpur (30,830).

District-Wise Breakdown of Ineligible Cards

Similarly, the highest number of ineligible ration cards were removed from Cuttack (2,885), followed by Khurda (2,783), Sundargarh (2,277), Nayagarh (1,768), Balasore (1,620), and Mayurbhanj (1,592), according to official data.

Fresh Inclusions and Scheme Migration

Minister Patra also informed the Assembly that 3,87,819 new members from 2,05,384 families have been added to the food security schemes since April 2025. The state has set a target to include 13.5 lakh beneficiaries from rural areas and 1.5 lakh from urban regions.

NFSA Migration Surge

In a major transition, 7.86 lakh beneficiaries from 2.71 lakh families have migrated from the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) to the National Food Security Act (NFSA) platform in 2024–25 and the current financial year. Ganjam again topped the migration chart with 84,497 beneficiaries, followed by Keonjhar (68,677), Balangir (57,326), and Kendrapada (55,275).

The ration card applicants and ineligible ration card holders are informed about the reason for exclusion from their respective Ration Card Management System (RCMS) centres functioning in 314 blocks and 64 urban local bodies (ULBS) across the state, the Minister said.

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