Palghar, Maharashtra: The Palghar district administration is undertaking a comprehensive verification drive to ensure that subsidized food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) reach only eligible recipients. This initiative, spanning all eight talukas, aims to eliminate ineligible, duplicate, migrated and deceased beneficiaries from the system.
The drive, scheduled from April 1 to May 31, 2025, requires ration cardholders to submit a self-declaration form along with supporting documents proving both income and residence. Forms are available free of charge at government ration shops, and the last date for submission is April 30, 2025. Failure to comply will result in ration cards being marked as ineligible and subsequently canceled.
Acceptable documents include proof of residence, such as rental agreements, property ownership documents, utility bills, bank passbooks, driving licenses, voter ID cards, Aadhaar cards, and other valid identity documents. Authorities have made it clear that the proof of residence must not be older than one year, and complete disclosure of the family’s total income from all sources is mandatory.
Once the forms are collected, ration shopkeepers will forward them to the respective taluka supply offices for verification. If discrepancies arise, beneficiaries will be given a 15-day window to submit correct or additional documentation. Non-compliance will lead to permanent removal from the scheme.
The verification process will cover all eight talukas in the district — Palghar, Vasai, Dahanu, Wada, Vikramgad, Talasari, Jawhar, and Mokhada — which together account for a total of 7,42,636 ration cards.
The drive, led by the District Supply Department, is aimed at curbing cases where affluent families, government employees, and individuals with substantial assets have managed to unlawfully avail of subsidized food grains, often using outdated or falsified income certificates. Authorities say such misuse has long deprived genuinely needy households of access to essential government support.
The administration also aims to address cases where members of newly separated families—especially those splitting from joint households—were inadvertently excluded from the scheme. By freeing up space in the system, the district hopes to ensure that new, deserving applicants can be enrolled under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH) categories, both of which fall under the NFSA umbrella.
The NFSA was implemented in Maharashtra in February 2015, dividing beneficiaries into the AAY and PHH groups. Since the total number of ration card beneficiaries is capped, the removal of ineligible recipients is essential for fair inclusion.
Ration Card Holder Statistics by Taluka:
Palghar: 1,37,878
Vasai: 3,58,065
Dahanu: 88,728
Wada: 38,885
Vikramgad: 35,164
Talasari: 28,184
Jawhar: 34,878
Mokhada: 20,854
Total: 7,42,636 ration cards across the district
