SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has 16,57,861 active ration cards as of July 2026, while 3,036 ration cards were deleted in 2025 and 4,767 in 2024, the Union Government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply to an unstarred question, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said India currently has 20,57,81,055 active ration cards under the public distribution system. Of these, 16.57 lakh are in Jammu and Kashmir, while neighbouring Ladakh has 28,105 active ration cards.
The Ministry stated that 4,767 ration cards were deleted in Jammu and Kashmir during 2024, with the number falling to 3,036 in 2025. In Ladakh, 615 ration cards were deleted in 2024 and 764 in 2025, according to the data placed before Parliament.
The Centre clarified that under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the responsibility for identifying eligible beneficiaries and maintaining beneficiary databases lies with the respective State Governments and Union Territory administrations.
It said ration cards are generally cancelled due to duplicate or ineligible beneficiaries, e-KYC mismatches, deaths, and permanent migration of households.
However, the Ministry emphasised that no ration cards have been reported to have been cancelled solely due to failure to complete e-KYC or Aadhaar authentication.
The government further informed the House that no specific reports or complaints regarding the wrongful cancellation of ration cards have been received.
