Jamshedpur: The East Singhbhum District Food Supply Department is set to take a major step toward optimizing the food grain distribution system. The department has identified approximately 20,000 ration cardholders who have not claimed their allocated free rations for the last six months to a year. Most of these cardholders are reportedly from urban areas. Reports have been summoned from PDS dealers, and after final verification, the process of removing these names from the ration list will begin.
According to department data, out of 420,117 total cardholders in the district in January 2026, only about 90.89% received grain. Roughly 41,000 cardholders did not receive their monthly ration. This data covers all 11 blocks and urban areas (JNAC, Mango Municipal Corporation, Jugsalai Municipal Council, and Golmuri-cum-Jugsalai). The situation was worse in urban centers, where nearly 15% of cardholders did not receive grain in January, compared to 8% in rural areas.
District Supply Officer Zulfikar Ansari stated that identifying inactive cardholders is a priority. Removing these 20,000 names is expected to improve the district’s overall distribution efficiency. Notably, East Singhbhum’s ranking in the state improved from 24th in December 2025 to 22nd in January 2026 due to accelerated distribution efforts.
