Ration Card 2026: types, eligibility, how to apply, Aadhaar linking and One Nation One Ration Card

A ration card is the document your state government issues so your household can collect grain from a Fair Price Shop under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. An Antyodaya (AAY) household gets 35 kg per household per month and a Priority Household (PHH) gets 5 kg per person per month, presently free of cost. With One Nation One Ration Card you can collect it from any ePoS shop in the country, and helpline 1967 takes complaints. Applying is a state process, so use your state’s food department portal, listed on nfsa.gov.in.

What is a ration card and who runs it?

A ration card is the household record that lets a family collect subsidised foodgrains from a Fair Price Shop (FPS), also called a ration shop, under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. The Act legally entitles up to 75% of the rural and up to 50% of the urban population, about two-thirds of the country, to foodgrains through the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

The work is shared between two levels of government:

• Central Government: buys, allocates and transports foodgrains up to designated Food Corporation of India (FCI) depots.
• State and UT governments: identify eligible households, issue ration cards and supervise the Fair Price Shops.

So your card, the beneficiary list and your ration shop are all managed by your state. The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) runs the national websites, nfsa.gov.in and dfpd.gov.in. This guide explains the national rules; forms and procedures differ from state to state.

What are the ration card types: AAY and Priority?

The NFSA recognises two categories of households, and your state issues a card for each:

Card	Who it is for	Monthly entitlement
AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana)	The poorest of the poor	35 kg per household
PHH (Priority Household)	Households selected by the state as per its own criteria	5 kg per person

AAY households are chosen by the state on the basis of criteria set by the Central Government. Priority households are chosen by the state government or UT administration on its own criteria.

The central pages describe only these two categories. How your state names or prints its cards is shown on your state portal, so check there for the exact card name and colour used in your state.

How much grain does a ration card give?

Grain is given through the ration shop every month:

• AAY card: 35 kg per household, whatever the number of members.
• Priority card: 5 kg per person, so a family of four members gets 20 kg.

The grain is rice, wheat or coarse grains. The mix depends on your state’s allocation: a DFPD allocation order on nfsa.gov.in for Uttar Pradesh for February 2026 lists rice, wheat, bajra and jowar, each with an issue price of 0.

The Central Government decided to give foodgrains free of cost to AAY and Priority households from 1 January 2023, and this free supply has been extended for five years from 1 January 2024, fully funded by the Centre.

The Act also gives pregnant women, lactating mothers and children aged 6 months to 14 years meals under ICDS (Anganwadi) and PM-POSHAN (schools). Pregnant women and lactating mothers are further entitled to a cash maternity benefit of not less than ₹6,000.

Who is eligible for a ration card and who is not?

Each state has a fixed number of people it can cover, and the state government decides who gets which card within that number. The central pages say AAY households include:

• Households headed by widows, terminally ill persons, disabled persons or persons aged 60 or above, with no assured means of subsistence or family or social support.
• All primitive tribal households.
• Landless agricultural labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans and craftsmen, slum dwellers and people earning a daily livelihood in the informal sector.
• Eligible BPL families of HIV-positive persons.

For Priority households there is no single national rule: states select them on their own criteria. The central pages do not give any income limit.

Who is not covered: a household that the state has not put on its AAY or Priority list. Identification is a continuous process in which states remove ineligible, fake or duplicate cards and also add newborns and genuine left-out households.

What documents do you need and how do you apply?

Issuing AAY and Priority cards is done by the State or UT government, so you apply on your state’s portal. The central NFSA page ‘Apply for Ration Card’ says to visit the respective State/UT Food Portals to apply or to learn the procedure.

1. Open nfsa.gov.in and go to the ‘Apply for Ration Card’ page, or to ‘Ration Card Details on State Portals’.
2. Choose your state or UT to reach its food and civil supplies portal.
3. Read the application procedure and the list of documents on that portal.
4. Apply there, or ask at your District Food and Supply Office. Offices of each state are listed on nfsa.gov.in under ‘District Food and Supply Offices’.
5. Keep your application number; you will need it if you have to complain.

Documents: the central pages do not list them. The list is set by your state, so follow your state portal. Remember that the eldest woman aged 18 or above is shown as head of the family on the card.

What is Aadhaar seeding and eKYC, and how do you check it?

Seeding means linking an Aadhaar number to the ration card record. At the national level about 99.9% of ration cards are seeded with Aadhaar, all ration card databases are 100% digitised, and nearly all ration shops (5.41 lakh of 5.43 lakh) use ePoS devices for biometric or Aadhaar-authenticated distribution.

At the shop, your ration card or Aadhaar is entered and your fingerprint is checked on the ePoS machine before grain is given. The Government has also named a biometric grain-distribution module (eKYC) as one of four modules of its SMART-PDS plan.

How to check: the official pages do not describe a central step-by-step seeding or eKYC process; it is handled in your state’s system. Practical checks are your card details on your state portal, the Mera Ration app, and asking your shop dealer or District Food and Supply Office if your fingerprint is not accepted. The online grievance form on nfsa.gov.in sends an OTP to the mobile number linked with your Aadhaar.

How does One Nation One Ration Card work, and what is the Mera Ration app?

One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) is in place across all 36 States and UTs. It lets about 81 crore beneficiaries lift their entitled foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop in the country using their existing ration card or Aadhaar card with biometric authentication on an ePoS device. It is especially useful for migrant labourers and prevents duplicate ration cards. About 191 crore portability transactions, inside and between states, were recorded up to October 2025.

To use it: go to any ePoS ration shop, give your ration card or Aadhaar, complete the biometric check and collect your entitled quantity.

The Mera Ration 2.0 app, made by the National Informatics Centre and launched by DFPD on 20 August 2024, shows:

• your ration card details and monthly entitlement
• your past transactions
• the nearest Fair Price Shop
• a grievance option, with the status of your complaint

It has been downloaded more than 1 crore times.

Common problems, helpline and where to complain

The NFSA grievance page lists the usual problems: the ration shop does not open, a ration card was applied for but not received, poor quality grain, and not getting the full entitled quantity.

• Phone: helpline 1967 or 1800-(state series) works in all States and UTs. State numbers are listed on nfsa.gov.in under ‘Toll Free Helpline Numbers for PDS in States/UTs’.
• Online: register a grievance on nfsa.gov.in. The form asks for state, district, name, Aadhaar number, mobile number, address, ration card or application number, shop number and name, and a description. You get a reference number to track it under ‘Know Your Grievance Status’.
• Mera Ration app: submit a grievance and follow its status.

Complaints received by DFPD are sent to the State or UT government for inquiry and action. If the entitled quantity is not supplied, the Act provides for a food security allowance from the State Government, under the Food Security Allowance Rules, 2015.

What has changed recently?

These dates come from official sources (PIB explainer of 15 October 2025 and nfsa.gov.in):

Date	Change
5 July 2013	National Food Security Act enacted
1 January 2023	Free foodgrains for AAY and Priority households under NFSA
25 January 2023	Nutritional norms in Schedule-II of the Act revised
1 January 2024	Free grain extended for five years, estimated outlay ₹11.80 lakh crore, fully borne by the Centre
20 August 2024	Mera Ration 2.0 app launched
October 2025	78.90 crore beneficiaries receiving free grain; ONORC in all 36 States/UTs

The Cabinet has also approved fortified rice under all central schemes until December 2028. Rules and forms can change, so always confirm on nfsa.gov.in, dfpd.gov.in and your state portal.