Punjab government has achieved another milestone in the Ration Card programme and is investing fresh funds in the venture.
The Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif announced additional Rs 43.2 billion to be allocated to the Maryam Nawaz Ration Card programme to the registered workers this year. On top of the Rs 28 billion disbursed to 1.2 million registered workers through the scheme.
Now there are registered workers in Punjab, number has reached a new record of 1,403,063, an official statement said Monday. It is the official entry into the over 1.4-million-beneficiary range.
1,244,130 workers have been provided with their Maryam Nawaz Ration Cards. There are another 4,984 cards being printed that the number of active cardholders will continue to rise in the days.
The programme works by giving registered workers essential commodities worth Rs 3,000 per month. It can be done at one of 62,000 designated shops throughout the province.
A review meeting chaired by CM Maryam Nawaz was held to discuss the progress of the programme. In the session, she informed authorities to further increase the number of registered workers in Punjab.
Labour Minister Manshaullah Butt and Secretary Labour Danish Afzal briefed the Chief Minister about the status of the scheme. The meeting discussed enrolments and card distribution rates to existing registrants.
The expansion was shaped by a wider mandate, given by the Chief Minister. The financial security of all the labourers and workers of the province is her responsibility and she has asked officials to make efforts to continue increasing the number of beneficiaries.
It is the latest increase in growth the programme has experienced this year. A separate high-level meeting held in April had agreed to take 50,000 more beneficiaries on to the scheme when the scheme had 1.4 million people enrolled monthly receiving benefits.
In that same April review, it was highlighted that the Ration Card programme was running concurrently with two related welfare schemes, the Himmat Card and Minority Card. Together, the three programmes have reached over 1.6 million in Punjab.
The Ration Card scheme was launched from 29th April, 2026 and the aid disbursement was started from July 1st, 2026. It was originally intended to reach 1.25 lakh families including 40,000 workers from the Mines and Minerals Department, which can be expanded from there.
The registered workers now stood at 1.4 million and a new allocation of Rs 43.2 billion was approved, the announcement on Monday suggests the government does not plan to cap the programme, but is determined to expand it considerably beyond its initial levels.
