One Nation One Ration Card Scheme which will allow portability of food security benefits will be available across the country from 1st July, 2020. This means poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidized rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country.
Highlights of the Scheme
The scheme is all about inter-state portability of ration cards. It enables the beneficiaries who are taking food grains under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to access the same benefits if they happen to migrate from one part of the country to the other, in a seamless manner.
India has been computerising its PDS operations for quite a few years. This scheme of inter state portability is a logical progression to the next level of enabling seamless public services under the PDS, throughout the country.
The government is going to launch the scheme on a pilot basis in August by having four states in two clusters namely Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Maharashtra and Gujarat.
These states have fully computerized their PDS operations and are fully on board to affect this transition to inter state portability.