Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra said on Friday that more than 20,000 government workers in Odisha had turned in their ration cards as of January 31. Notably, in the last two days alone, over 8,000 of these surrenders were completed.

The minister's reiteration of the state government's warning of punitive action against ineligible beneficiaries nearly led to the revelation.

Earlier, on January 23, Patra disclosed that around 200 to 300 ineligible persons held ration cards in every block across all 30 districts of Odisha. Further, many of these individuals were reported to be financially well-off government employees.

During that same interaction, he also added that the state government had identified this alarming number of illegal ration card holders and subsequently issued a deadline of January 31 for surrendering the card.