One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)

One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)

Introduction: The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) has been launched under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. ONORC is also a part of the PM-SVANIDHI program of MoHUA.

It is one of its kind of Citizen centric initiatives in the country, ONORC was sanctioned in 2018-19.

• The implementation of ONORC was initiated in August 2019.
• The ONORC scheme is aimed at enabling migrant workers and their family members to buy subsidized rations from any fair price shop anywhere in the country under NFSA 2013 through an existing Ration card, with Aadhar or any biometric authentication.

Implementation of ONORC:

After Delhi, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, Assam has also accepted to operate the scheme and with this Assam has become 36^th State/UT to implement ONORC.

With the implementation of ONORC in Assam, the program has been successfully implemented all over India.

Objectives of ONORC:

The scheme empowers all NFSA beneficiaries, migrant beneficiaries able to get ration at the destination i.e. any state or place of the country he or she working.

• The family of migrants back home is also allowed to get their part of the ration from the same ration card.
• Beneficiaries are able to take ration/foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FSP) of their choice.

Significance of ONORC:

• Owing to the defined coverage of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 in each State/UT, it was difficult for migrant beneficiaries to get a new ration card issued.
• Even if the migrants were able to issue a new card, it introduced the duplicity of ration cards in the Country’s Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). So many genuinely deserving beneficiaries were not able to take their ration under NFSA.
• Now the problem gets solved, and the beneficiaries can get a new card issued without any duplicity.
• The government has enabled the inclusion of all genuine beneficiaries of State/UT through portability under NFSA
• This can fill the diversion of un-lifted foodgrains in FPSs, as they can now be lifted by their rightful beneficiaries through portability and get adjusted between States/UTs.
• So, this scheme minimizes the chance of diversion of foodgrains.
• The Scheme is particularly beneficial for women and other disadvantaged groups.
• The scheme ensures that the same person is not getting benefits in two different locations in the country. The scheme is linked with Adhar and biometrics which reduces the chances of corruption.
  • ONORC was helpful to NFSA beneficiaries in availing food grains from any location during the COVID pandemic period.
• Further, due to the potential of ONORC to empower migrants, this plan has now also become a part of the “Prime Minister’s Technology-Driven System Reforms under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan”.
• One Nation One Ration Card System is an important citizen-centric reform. Its implementation ensures the availability of rations to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes, especially the migrant workers and their families, at any Fair Price Shop (FPS) across the country.

 

Technologies in the Scheme:

The scheme uses the existing ration card with biometric authentication of identity on an Electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) device to enable migrant beneficiaries to get their food grains from the FPS of their choice in parts of the country.

• This portability system is being implemented in all states and Union Territories where the system is being built upon the strong foundations of Computerized Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) operations.
• The scheme includes the installed infrastructure of ePoS devices at the FPS and the seeding of beneficiaries’ Aadhaar numbers with their ration cards.
• The beneficiaries can simply use their Ration card number or seeded Aadhar number to the FPS dealer and can receive their ration.

Mera Ration App:

The mobile application ‘MERA RATION’ is launched by the Department of Food and Public Distribution in association with NIC.

• It benefits NFSA beneficiaries, particularly migrants to take maximum advantage of the ONORC plan.
• The ‘MERA RATION’ mobile app is currently available in 12 languages.

On the app “MERA RATION” information such as registration of migrant details of available entitlement, location of nearby FPS, information on past transactions, eligibility criteria, list of ONORC states, etc. can be accessed.

 

 

Sources:

https://pib.gov.in/factsheetdetails.aspx?id=148563

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1749917

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