Over 8000 govt, semi govt, Coop sector employees illegally possess priority ration cards in Kerala

Kollam: The Civil Supplies Department has discovered that 8,335 government, semi-government and cooperative sector employees have illegally held ration cards under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH) categories. This discovery was made during an inspection conducted by the department between January 2021 and January 2025. Due to this unauthorised ration acquisition, the department incurred a loss of ₹21,42,234 in just one month.

Among those illegally holding ration cards was a Public Distribution Department employee. This comes at a time when the state is facing severe challenges in its ration distribution system. The inspection, carried out from 2021 to October 31, 2024, revealed that over 3,30,000 people across the state had unlawfully obtained rations by holding onto priority ration cards. Of these, 60,503 individuals were from the AAY (yellow) category, while more than 2,70,000 individuals were from the PHH (Priority Household), pink, category. The market price for the goods illegally obtained through these ration cards is being collected.

The state has 94,85,357 ration cards across five categories.

Under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), yellow cardholders are entitled to 30 kg of rice and 3 kg of wheat free of cost every month, and two packets of atta at a rate of ₹7 each. For priority household category (PHH), pink cardholders receive 4 kg of rice and 1 kg of wheat per person for free. Also, instead of 3 kg of wheat, 3 packets of atta at ₹9 each are provided.

Since the implementation of the Food Security Act in the country, the state has been allowed to include only 1,54,80,040 cards in the priority category. As a result, many deserving individuals have been left out of this category. To address this, the government allowed cardholders to voluntarily shift to non-priority categories. Inspections and complaints have led to some individuals being moved to the general category. Kasaragod district has recorded the highest number of illegal cardholders.

District-wise list of unauthorised cards shifted to general category:

• Kasaragod: 89,287
• Malappuram: 34,868
• Thiruvananthapuram: 20,760
• Palakkad: 20,415
• Kozhikode: 18,303
• Ernakulam: 17,932
• Thrissur: 16,046
• Kollam: 13,502
• Alappuzha: 13,359
• Kannur: 13,217
• Wayanad: 11,266
• Pathanamthitta: 7,655
• Idukki: 6,732
• Kottayam: 51,210