Chhattisgarh implements 'One Nation One Ration Card' plan

Chhattisgarh has implemented 'One Nation One Ration Card' (ONORC) plan, enabling the people of the state to lift their foodgrains quota entitled under the food law from any ration shops across the country.

The Department of Food & Public Distribution recently reviewed the progress of States/UTs towards the implementation of ONORC plan.

"...after successful testing of portability transactions, the Department has approved the integration of Chhattisgarh with the existing cluster of portability States/UTs under ONORC," an official statement said.

The ONORC plan for nation-wide portability of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) ration cards has been enabled in the Chhattisgarh State from February 2, 2022.

"With the integration of Chhattisgarh, the ONORC plan is now operational in 35 States/UTs covering almost 96.8 per cent NFSA population (about 77 crore NFSA beneficiaries) in the country," the statement said.

The migrant NFSA beneficiaries of Chhattisgarh State will also now be able to take the benefit of subsidised foodgrains at any Fair Price Shop (FPS), popularly known as ration shops, across the country.

The ONORC is a technology driven distribution system which makes food security portable across the country and is very beneficial for migratory NFSA beneficiaries, who frequently change their place of dwelling in search of temporary employments, etc.

This provides them with an option to lift their entitled quota of foodgrains from any ration shops of their choice, anywhere in the country, by using their same/existing ration card.

The families of the migratory beneficiaries back home, can also avail the balance ration without any difficulty.

Since inception of the ONORC plan in August 2019, the department informed that more than 56 crore portability transactions have been recorded in the States/UTs under ONORC so far, delivering nearly total 100 lakh tonnes foodgrains through both inter-State and intra-State portability transactions equivalent to about Rs 31,000 crore in food subsidy.

As a key indicator, presently a monthly average of about 2.5 crore portability transactions (including inter-State, intra-State and PM-GKAY foodgrain transactions) are being recorded in the States/UTs under ONORC.

In March 2020, the Centre had launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) to provide free foodgrains to over 80 crore people covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as part of its effort to reduce the hardships of people during the coronavirus pandemic.

The additional foodgrains of 5 kilograms per person per month under the PMGKAY is over and above the normal quota provided under the NFSA at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg.

"From the high volume of about 49 crore portability transactions done by the beneficiaries during the COVID-19 period (from April 2020 till so far), it is evident that the flexibility of choosing any FPS (ration shop) under ONORC has proved to be a tremendous source of food security for many migrant beneficiaries/families, as they are now able to lift their entitled ration under NFSA and PMGKAY seamlessly," it said.

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