One nation one ration card scheme picks up after rollout in Delhi

Around 430 ration cardholders registered in other states availed the food grains under the ‘one nation one ration card ‘ (ONORC) scheme in Delhi. These records were observed by the state government days after it had ordered the implementation of the scheme on July 20, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.

Out of these 430 ration card holders, 224 are from Bihar, 190 from Uttar Pradesh, and the remaining from Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Odisha. These numbers are expected to rise with more awareness of the scheme among the public.

On June 29 Supreme Court had passed an order that asked Delhi, West Bengal, Assam, and Chhattisgarh to implement the ONORC scheme in its entirety by July 31. On July 20, the AAP government issued a complete roll-out of the scheme from this month.

Delhi has 1.78 million ration card households, which estimates to be around 7.2 million beneficiaries. The migrants with ration cards registered in other states will add another 200,000 households.

As per 2011 census data on migration released in July 2019, Delhi has the second-highest population of inter-state migrants in India. The first most populous state with respect to inter-state migrants is Maharashtra.

As per the data, Delhi has three-fourth of the total migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Most of them had arrived in the city between 2001 and 2011.

According to the state’s food ministry, the ration distribution is in line with new practices through e-PoS at all fair price shops in Delhi. This facility will be available to all migrant beneficiaries under the national portability scheme.

These electronic point of sale (e-PoS) machines are Aadhaar-based biometric devices that will pace up the distribution of ration under the National Food Security Act, 2013, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, and any other scheme implemented through fair price shops in the national capital.