Ration card mustering to resume on September 18

Kerala State government resumes ration card mustering process to meet Central government deadline, prioritizing completion by October 31.

Faced with the Central government’s ultimatum to complete the mustering of ration cards by October 31, the State government will resume the process on Wednesday (September 18).

The mustering had been previously suspended due to technical glitches and concerns about disrupting regular ration distribution. In Kerala, nearly 1.10 crore priority ration card holders are yet to complete the process.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution recently mandated that the exercise be finished by the end of October, warning that failure to comply could impact the State’s ration allocation.

The State was originally given time until March 18 to enable priority ration card holders, numbering 1,53,87,123 people, to update their e-KYC details as required by the Centre. Ration supply had been suspended for three days for the purpose to facilitate special mustering camps at ration outlets, libraries, anganvadis and other venues.

However, a snag caused within the State IT Mission’s server disrupted the drive midway, prompting the government to limit the mustering to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY - yellow) ration card holders in the later stages.

At present, 7,54,058 AAY and 38,33,149 priority household (PHH - pink) ration card holders, totalling 45,87,207 card holders, have completed the mustering. As many as 1,07,99,916 priority ration card holders, including 12,32,481 AAY and 95,67,435 PHH card holders are yet to submit necessary details.

According to official sources, mustering will resume on Wednesday without affecting the normal ration supply. The authorities expect that the process will be completed within October 15.