Types of Family Ration Cards in India

A  ‘Family Ration Card’ is a document issued the State Governments of India, under the ‘Public Distribution System’, which may be used for procuring essential food commodities, such as rice, dhal, sugar etc.,from the ‘Fair Price Shops’ of the ‘Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Departments’ of the State Governments, at subsidized prices.

USES OF A FAMILY RATION CARD: 

A ‘Family Ration Card’ is a document used not only for the procurement of subsidized priced food commodities, but also, for used as  a valid document for the ‘Proof of Address’ for the ‘Head of the Family’ and all the members of the family as per the ‘Family Ration Card’ and the ‘Proof of Identity’ of the ‘Head of the Family’, whose photo is embossed on the card. The ‘Family Ration Card’ can be used for obtaining other documents, such as, the ‘Voter’s Identity Card’, ‘Legal Heir Certificate’ etc.

TYPES OF FAMILY RATION CARDS ISSUED IN INDIA:

Basically, there are 3 Categories of ‘Family Ration Card’:

• ‘Antyodaya’ Card-For the people of the ‘Extreme Poverty Level’/EPL– There are 3 types of ‘Antyodaya’ Cards, namely, ‘Antyodaya Anna Yojana’ Card, ‘Annapurna Anna Yojana’ Card and ‘Nirashrit Antordoya Anna yojana’Card.

• ‘Below Poverty Line’ Card-For the people of the ‘Below Poverty Line’/BPL and

•  Above Poverty Line’ Card-For the people of the ‘Above Poverty Line’/APL.

The above ‘lines’ of poverty are being defined by the ‘Planning Commission of India’ once in every 5 years, based on the data collected from various sources and analyzed by the Government of India.

There is yet another type of ‘Family Card’, called ‘N’ Cards/’No Commodity Card’,  issued in some of the States in India, which are not entitled for procurement of any subsidized commodities from the ‘Public Distribution System’/PDS, which may be used exclusively for use as the ‘Proof of Address’ and ‘Proof of Identity’.

It is notable that, the “N” Family Cards may be renewed online.

The various types of ‘Family Ration Cards’ are having different colours and different eligibilities for various subsidized commodities, in the different States of India.

For details visit the related website of the Government of India

Related Reading: 
How To Get A New Family Ration Card in India?