‘One Nation One Ration Card’ completes implementation in the country as Assam adopts the scheme

Assam became the 36th state to join India’s One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) food security plan, completing the reform’s nationwide implementation. With the latest update, all 36 states and union territories have begun distributing ration cards that are valid throughout India, making food security mobility a reality, according to ANI.

Beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), particularly migrants, benefited greatly from the ONORC since they got subsidised foodgrains during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the plan, which was launched in August 2019, has been quickly implemented across the country, benefiting over 80 million Indians.

The goal; ONORC to provide countrywide access to foodgrains.
The goal of the food security programme is to make beneficiaries self-sufficient in terms of food security throughout the country. Citizens can use the cards across the nation to purchase the subsidised foodgrains (in part or whole) from any fair-price shop of their choice, thanks to the scheme’s pan-India application. This also allows family members to buy foodgrains from wherever in India, according to the specified limit on their ration card.

Mera Ration mobile application
To make the most of ONORC, a mobile application has been established to allow beneficiaries to access real-time information in 13 languages. The ONORC system essentially nationalises the ration card through Aadhaar seeding, allowing the recipient to purchase foodgrains from any fair price shop in the country, ensuring the beneficiary’s claim to food security regardless of where the beneficiary resides.

ONORC: In Numbers

• Portable transactions since debut (August 2019): 71 crores (43.6 crores NFSA and 27.8 crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojan (PM-GKAY) transactions)
• Foodgrains provided worth Rs 40,000 crore via portability
  Transactions throughout the COVID period (April 2020 to the present):
  64 billion portable transactions (of which 27.8 billion were registered under PMGKAY)
• Foodgrains provided worth Rs 36,000 crore via portability
  Furthermore, as a vital indication, over three crore transactions are recorded every month by supplying NFSA and free PMGKAY foodgrains to recipients across the country.