Will issue 10 lakh new white ration cards after Sankranti: Uttam

The Telangana Government will issue 10 lakh white ration cards after Sankranti. This is expected to benefit an estimated 31 lakh people, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Replying to a query during Question Hour in the Legislative Council on Monday, he said the state government will use data obtained from the recent caste census to decide eligibility for the new ration cards.
This decision is projected to add a financial burden of Rs 956 crore annually to the exchequer. He said that over 18 lakh applications to add names to existing ration cards have been pending at Mee Seva centres for over a decade. The issue of new ration cards is meant to tackle this backlog and replacing old ration cards with smart cards would enhance efficiency.
Uttam said the new white ration card scheme was conceptualised under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s leadership. A sub-committee, chaired by the minister himself and including Damodar Raja Narasimha and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, held many meetings to finalise the eligibility criteria.
These recommendations, based on the Sachchidananda Saxena Committee guidelines, as well as input from MLAs, MLCs and MPs have been submitted to the cabinet for approval.
In addition to the new cards, the government is addressing gaps in fair-price shop operations. Steps are being taken to fill vacancies in these shops, and
new outlets will be established in the recently created gram panchayats and tandas, he said.
Acknowledging criticism of ‘Doddu rice,’ a coarse rice variety distributed through fair-price shops, he admitted that it is underutilised and is likely to be diverted. The government will now distribute finer rice to all white ration cardholders to improve quality and usage rate.  
Uttam also described the changes in ration card distribution before and after the formation of Telangana. Before bifurcation, Telangana region had 91.68 lakh ration cards for 3.38 crore people. After the state’s formation, 2.46 lakh cards were cancelled as their owners went to Andhra Pradesh.
Between 2016 and 2023, Telangana issued 6.47 lakh new food security cards, benefiting 20.69 lakh people. Simultaneously, 5.98 lakh cards were cancelled after being deemed ineligible, leading to a net addition of 86,000 beneficiaries over a decade. Now, the state has 89.95 lakh white ration cards covering 2.81 crore beneficiaries.
Under the National Food Security Act, the Central Government provides 54 lakh ration cards for 1.91 crore people. The state supplements this with 35 lakh food security cards, benefiting an additional 89 lakh people.
Uttam said the new initiative aims to modernise the food distribution system and address long-standing gaps in food security.