Chandigarh : Haryana Minister of State for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Sh. Rajesh Nagar, has directed officials to accelerate the process of opening 4,000 new ration depots under the Public Distribution System (PDS), in line with Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini’s budget announcement. He also instructed that information regarding depots whose licences have been suspended or cancelled and subsequently attached to nearby depots should be communicated both to the department headquarters and the general public to ensure that ration beneficiaries do not face any inconvenience.
Chairing a review meeting with all District Food and Supplies Controllers through video conferencing, Sh. Nagar said that effective implementation of the Central Government’s ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ initiative remains a key priority of the department. He directed officials to update Aadhaar-linked data of defective Point of Sale (PoS) machines and ensure that modern facilities such as iris scanners and facial recognition scanners are incorporated into them.
The Minister emphasized that the margin money payable to ration depot holders should be credited to their accounts by the 10th of every month. He also instructed the department to constitute a special team at the headquarters level to monitor depot stocks and conduct random inspections at least four to five times every month.
Officials informed the meeting that Haryana has a total of 40 lakh families covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Below Poverty Line (BPL) categories, comprising 1.57 crore beneficiaries who receive ration every month. This includes 2.86 lakh Antyodaya families and 37.14 lakh BPL families.
The officials further stated that under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Antyodaya families receive 35 kilograms of wheat free of cost per family, while BPL beneficiaries receive 5 kilograms of wheat per member free of charge. Additionally, through the Public Distribution System, beneficiaries are provided one kilogram of sugar at Rs 13.50 per kilogram, along with one-litre and two-litre packs of mustard oil at prices lower than prevailing market rates.
Sh. Rajesh Nagar directed officials to study the public distribution systems of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan to examine what additional commodities are being provided to beneficiaries in those states along with ration supplies. During the meeting, it was also noted that before 2018, 2.5 kilograms of gram (chana) dal was distributed in place of mustard oil. Subsequently, after data matching with the Citizen Resources Information Department, the number of BPL families was revised downward.
Commissioner and Secretary of the department, Sh. J. Ganesan, informed the Minister that a dedicated portal is being developed for the payment of margin money to depot holders. Once operational, the payment process will become automated, and the amount will be directly credited to the accounts of depot operators. He added that Rs 42.90 crore has already been released for April 2026.
The meeting also discussed measures to enhance storage capacity. The Minister said that storage constraints often arise in mandis after government procurement and suggested that the department formulate a central guarantee-based warehousing policy on the lines of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Such a policy, he said, would encourage private investment and create employment opportunities for youth at the local level.
Officials informed the meeting that, keeping in view the requirement of 54,000 jute bales for the Kharif Marketing Season 2026–27, an order has already been placed with the Jute Commissioner, Kolkata.
Reviewing the verification of rice mills, officials reported that Haryana has a total of 1,401 rice mills, of which 524 have completed PV (Physical Verification) inspections, while verification of the remaining mills will be completed by June 30. The Minister directed that special teams from the headquarters be sent to rice mills in Karnal, Hisar and Yamunanagar to inspect CMR (Custom Milled Rice) stocks.
Officials further informed that the presence of the concerned miller is mandatory during the physical verification process, and verification is completed only after authentication through an OTP received on the miller’s registered mobile number Director General Anshaj Singh, Special Secretary Jagdeep Dhanda, and other senior officials of the department were also present at the meeting.
