New Delhi, Jan 17: Delhi families with an annual income of up to Rs 1.20 lakh are now eligible for ration cards, as announced by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on January 17.
This threshold has increased from the previous limit of Rs 1 lakh, reflecting a move to enhance the equity of Delhi’s food security system for the poor. New eligibility criteria exclude families owning property in certain colony categories, paying income tax, having a four-wheeler (except for a commercial vehicle for livelihood), employing a government worker, or having an electricity connection above 2 kilowatts.
Gupta emphasized that food security is a right and aims to ensure that no needy individual goes hungry due to systemic inefficiencies. The revision addresses the backlog of over 3,89,883 pending applications and includes an official income certificate requirement, eliminating self-certification.
The new approach replaces the ‘first-come, first-served’ model with a prioritization system managed by district-level committees headed by the District Magistrate or Additional District Magistrate, alongside local MLA involvement. This ensures that the most deserving families receive benefits first, supported by the establishment of a 20 percent waiting list for timely vacancy management.
A review of past data revealed numerous irregularities, including 6,46,123 beneficiaries whose income did not match criteria, 95,682 individuals who had not accessed benefits, 23,394 duplicates, and benefits assigned to deceased individuals in 6,185 cases. Additionally, 56,372 people had opted out of the system, leading to over 8,27,756 vacancies to be filled under the new transparent, need-based system.
