Centre Denies Deleting Punjab Food Law Beneficiaries, Asks State for Data Cleanup

The Centre on Sunday asserted that it has neither deleted the name of even a single beneficiary entitled under the food law in Punjab nor reduced foodgrain quota, and asked the state government to clean up the data to ensure only deserving poor get ration.

Addressing the media in Chandigarh on Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had claimed that his government received a report from the Centre, suggesting the deletion of 8,02,493 ration card holders in Punjab as they are no longer eligible.

Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi outrightly rejected the allegations, saying the Punjab government is trying to spread lies.

"The central government has not given any direction to delete the name of any beneficiary in the state of Punjab," Joshi told reporters here.

The Union Minister said 1.41 lakh crore poor people are entitled to get foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, and the Centre is allocating foodgrains for these total beneficiaries.

"We have not reduced allocation by even one kg," Joshi asserted.                                                                          

Elaborating on the issue, the Union Minister informed that the Centre had, in April 2023, written to all states to conduct e-KYC for all beneficiaries under the NFSA.

The deadline was June 2025, and the Punjab government has completed the e-KYC process for 90% of beneficiaries.

As per the available data, Joshi said, "There are more than 10 lakh beneficiaries who are doubtful", which means grains are diverted for black marketing.

There are nearly 9.45 lakh beneficiaries in Punjab who have an income of more than ₹6 lakh annually, he pointed out.

"(The) Punjab government should clean up the data of beneficiaries. The names of those who are not eligible should be removed, and the names of deserving poor who are not getting ration should be included," the Union Minister said.

Joshi said the Punjab government, which is ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is blaming the Centre instead of stopping the diversion of foodgrains to wrong beneficiaries.

"He (Punjab CM) does not want to stop illegal transactions. Bhagwant Mann ji and AAP do not want to stop corruption. They are putting wrong allegations on the Central Government," he charged.

The Union Minister alleged that the Punjab chief minister has raised this issue without understanding, under the influence of somebody.

Joshi said the identification of beneficiaries under the NFSA is the responsibility of the state governments.

"Poor people should get free rations. Those poor who have not got a ration card should be included in the list," Joshi said, as he urged the Punjab government to clean up their data.

After the Punjab chief minister's press conference, Joshi on Saturday gave a strong rebuttal through a social media post.

"Bhagwant Mann ji needs to get the facts right," Joshi had said in a post on X, clarifying that the mandatory eKYC of beneficiaries was directed by the Supreme Court and the Centre is merely asking states to implement it.

He said the Punjab government has been given multiple extensions to complete the process.

The Centre has merely asked to do a recheck on the beneficiaries based on the inclusion criteria set by the Punjab government, Joshi had said.

The Union Minister's post was in counter to the Punjab chief minister, who had said, "Recently, we received a report from the BJP government at the Centre that 8,02,493 ration cards are being cut".

Mann asserted that his government would not allow the deletion of even a single ration card.