Want to know who distributes Ration Cards in India and on what basis Rashan Cards are created/issued? I mean what are all different type of Rasan Cards that are issued to Indian individuals? You will find answers to all your queries here.

Who distributes Indian Ration Cards?

In India, ration cards are issued by State Government. State Government is involved in all sorts of Rasan Card related activities. Be it some alteration like name change in ration card, issuing new ration card, lost rashan card etc, state Govt is involved in all the activities. So who issues Ration card in India is the respective state government that individual resident is bonafide to.

Ration Card Types and eligibility

Ration Cards can be majorly classified in 3 broad categories. These are:

• Antyodaya Ration Card
• BPL Ration Card
• APL Ration Card

Antyodaya Ration Card

This ration card is issued to the families who have no stable or fix source of income. This type of rashan card is issued to poorest group of families. Several discounts/subsidies are offered to families who fall under Antyodaya scheme. Antyodaya Rasan Card is mainly issued with blue color cover. Concerned families can avail subsidized kerosene oil on this card.

Families who are not using Gas or LPG connections can also take the advantage and can apply for this blue ration card.

BPL Ration Cards

BPL stands for Below Poverty Line and this kind of Ration Cards are issued to families whose household income lies below poverty line threshold. BPL limit can be different for different state so status can vary state to state. BPL ration cards are also eligible for some of the advantages which are less that Antyodaya Cards but are more than APL rasan cards.

In most of the states, if your income lies below Rs. 10,000 then you can easily get BPL ration card (will vary state to state). It is issued with yellow color cover

APL Ration Card

APL rashan card are issued to families whose household income lies above poverty line value. Same like BPL, this index will vary state to state so it will have different criteria (annual salary limits) in different states.

It is normally orange or green cover. Color of any sort of Ration Card can also vary state to state and there is no fix color attached to particular type of Ration Card.

For Antodaya Cards, color is commonly fixed to blue and is followed on National level almost. In case you are in hurry or need rasan card urgently then you can apply for temporary ration card which is the only solution in cases where you have urgent ration card requirement. These cards are issued for relief purpose only and their validity usually expires within few weeks or max a month.

This is all about various types of Ration Cards in India, their eligibility and advantages. If you have any queries or want to add more then please do let us know by your comments.