November 29th 2025.
In a recent session of the Odisha Assembly, members of the Opposition BJD and Congress parties expressed their frustration and disappointment over the cancellation of over 8 lakh ration cards belonging to impoverished individuals. This was met with a swift denial from the state government, leading to a heated exchange between the two sides.
BJD chief whip Pramila Mallik initiated the debate by moving an adjournment motion, which sparked a heated discussion between the Opposition and the treasury benches. The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister, KC Patra, defended the government's actions by stating that they had cancelled 8,16,056 ration cards through e-KYC verification. He further clarified that the majority of these cancelled cards belonged to deceased persons, government employees, and Income Tax payees. The minister then posed a question, "What is wrong with cancelling ineligible cards?" He went on to explain that this move has saved the state a whopping Rs 210 crore in just one year.
The minister also informed the Assembly that the government is working towards identifying and issuing new ration cards to 13.5 lakh beneficiaries in rural areas and 1.5 lakh in urban areas. Additionally, the income thresholds have been revised to Rs 15,000 per month in rural areas and Rs 20,000 in urban areas, which is an increase from the previous limits of Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. These changes are aimed at ensuring that genuine beneficiaries receive the benefits they are entitled to, while also preventing ineligible individuals from taking advantage of the system.
The government plans to conduct door-to-door surveys to identify those who truly need ration cards, while also taking into consideration factors such as owning luxury houses or expensive cars as grounds for cancellation. However, senior BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain accused the BJP government of being anti-poor and claimed that they have been removing genuine beneficiaries under the guise of surveys and e-KYC.
Swain went on to explain that district collectors were directed to cancel ration cards if the beneficiaries had not collected rice for six months, owned more than one hectare of land, or earned above Rs 1.2 lakh annually. He claimed that the government was falsely labeling farmers as wealthy, thereby denying them their right to food security. BJD legislator Devi Ranjan Tripathy also criticized the government for using landholding criteria to deny ration cards, while Congress members Ashok Das and C S Rajan Ekka expressed concern for the poor who were living in fear of their ration cards being cancelled.
Tripathy posed an important question, "Is it justified to deny PDS to a farmer who only owns 1 hectare of land?" To this, BJP legislators Ashrit Patnaik, Amar Nayak, and Pratap Chandra Nayak strongly defended the state government's actions of cancelling ration cards belonging to ineligible and affluent individuals. They also alleged that the previous BJD government not only cancelled the ration cards of thousands of people, but also imposed penalties on them. BJP member Padma Lochan Panda even claimed that some individuals were sent to jail on charges of fraudulently availing ration cards during the previous BJD government.
In response to the minister's remarks, BJD and Congress members staged a walkout, protesting against the BJP government, which they deemed as being anti-poor. It is a matter of great concern that the cancellation of ration cards has affected so many impoverished individuals in the state. Hopefully, the government will take necessary steps to ensure that genuine beneficiaries receive the benefits they are entitled to, while also preventing fraud and misuse of the system. After all, the goal should be to provide food security to those who need it the most.
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