Chandigarh, Aug. 13 -- Punjab has deleted 2,89,334 ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, between 2021 and 2025, according to data tabled by the Union ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The figures, provided in response to a question by MP Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, show that ration-card deletions in Punjab peaked at 1,52,497 in 2022, followed by 1,23,722 in 2023. The deletions subsequently dropped sharply to 7,520 in 2024 and 2,290 in 2025, compared with 3,305 in 2021. Punjab has 1.52 crore NFSA beneficiaries, with 40,93,003 ration cards, according to data from the Central NFSA repository cited by the Union government. The current NFSA Punjab dashboard lists 40,47,613 ration cards, comprising 1,77,929 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards and 38,69,684 Priority Household (PHH) cards. In Punjab, AAY households are entitled to 35kg of foodgrains per household per month, while PHH beneficiaries receive 5kg per person per month free of cost. Across the country, the government reported deletion of more than 2.24 crore ration cards during the five years. The annual figures stood at 29,02,794 in 2021, 63,80,274 in 2022, 41,99,373 in 2023, 48,85,259 in 2024 and 41,41,385 in 2025....