SRINAGAR: The number of beneficiaries registered under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 68,49,967 in 2026, according to data presented by the Union Government in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The figures, contained in the State/UT-wise data annexed to the reply of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, show that JK had 67,47,183 registered PDS beneficiaries in 2025, indicating an increase of 1,02,784 beneficiaries in the latest data.
The Government said States and Union Territories receive funds under different mechanisms for food subsidy and for intra-State movement and handling of foodgrains, as well as margins payable to Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
For Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre released Rs 54.54 crore during 2025-26 under the scheme providing assistance to State agencies for intra-State movement and handling of foodgrains and FPS dealers’ margins. The corresponding release was Rs 89.82 crore in 2024-25, Rs 29.58 crore in 2023-24, Rs 188.03 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 17.69 crore in 2021-22.
The ministry said the Department of Food and Public Distribution reimburses expenditure incurred by States adopting the Decentralised Procurement (DCP) system for distribution of foodgrains to beneficiaries of Central schemes. Funds are also released through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for foodgrains handed over by States for the Central Pool.
Food subsidy is provided to FCI and DCP States to cover the difference between the economic cost of foodgrains and the Central Issue Price at which they are supplied to States.
The Government also provided State-wise figures of ineligible ration cards deleted during the last five years. It said the deletion exercise is aimed at removing ineligible beneficiaries from the PDS database.
Under the scheme for intra-State movement and handling of foodgrains, funds are released to meet expenditure on transportation and handling, besides basic and additional margins payable to FPS dealers.
At the national level, the Centre said Rs 75,254.34 crore had been released as food subsidy to FCI and DCP States under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in 2026-27, as of August 6, 2026.
The ministry said that under PMGKAY, an additional five kg of foodgrains per person per month was distributed free of cost to Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Household beneficiaries from April 2020 to December 2022.
The latest figures place JK’s PDS beneficiary base at nearly 68.5 lakh people, underlining the scale of the subsidised foodgrain distribution network across the Union Territory.
