Ludhiana, April 2 -- Punjab will start distributing QR-based plastic ration cards from Thursday to overcome gaps and glitches which delayed the release of ration to beneficiaries.

There are around 1.5 crore beneficiaries covered under 39 lakh ration cards in Punjab. The government aim to achieve 80% coverage before May, when the wheat distribution cycle begins.

The move is expected to bring relief to those beneficiaries with faded fingerprints, worn-out thumb patterns, families repeatedly failing e-KYC and households where biometric mismatch has delayed ration release.

Unlike the earlier system, beneficiaries will now only need to carry the QR-based plastic ration card, eliminating the need to present additional documents such as Aadha...