Free Ration April: Big news for Ration Card holders. In New month you can get free ration from the government. Yes you’ve heard it right. The government offers free rations to everyone living below the poverty line. At the same time, the Narendra Modi administration has declared that it will distribute three times the usual amount of grain to all ration card holders across the nation for the month of April. This announcement was made by the central government’s Department of Food and Public Distribution.
The social media platform X stated, “In April, all beneficiaries will receive rations for three months (April, May, and June 2026) in one go. Beneficiaries can pick up their rations from their nearest ration shop at the designated time.” The government has yet to provide a specific explanation for this.
41 lakh fake ration cards removed
Earlier on Tuesday, the government informed Parliament that 41.41 lakh ineligible ration cards were removed in 2025. Minister of State for Food Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhania reported to the Rajya Sabha that the largest number of ineligible ration cards were removed in Haryana (approximately 13.43 lakh), followed by Rajasthan (6.05 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (5.97 lakh), West Bengal (3.74 lakh), and Madhya Pradesh (2.60 lakh).
In a written response to a query, Bambhaniya mentioned that due to the implementation of technology in the Public Distribution System (PDS), all states and Union Territories have successfully eliminated ineligible ration cards to guarantee access for genuine beneficiaries.
He noted that a total of 41.41 lakh fake ration cards will be removed in 2025, compared to 48.85 lakh in 2024 and 41.99 lakh in 2023. Bambhaniya added that as part of ongoing reforms in the PDS, ration card and beneficiary data has been fully digitized across all states and Union Territories.
Nearly all Fair Price Shops (FPS) in the country have been automated with the installation of electronic “Point of Sale” (EPOS) devices for the distribution of food grains. Further, 99.2 per cent beneficiaries have been seeded with Aadhaar and 98.75 per cent foodgrain distribution is being done through digital authentication including Aadhaar based biometrics. “Digitisation of PDS is being done with the aim of increasing efficiency and transparency, ensuring access to genuine beneficiaries and addressing issues like food grain theft etc,” the Minister said.