Ration Card Portability – Free PDF Download

Context

• The government is showcasing scheme as one of the biggest achievements of its first 100 days in power.
• The launch of the nationwide food security net is scheduled for June 2020.
• Several challenges remain before migrants can take advantage of full portability.

Food Security

• India runs the world’s largest food security programme, distributing more than 600 lakh tonnes of subsidised food grain to more than 81 crore beneficiaries every year.
• This is done through a vast network of more than five lakh ration or fair price shops.

Ration Card

• A ration card is issued to the head of the family
• It is used by households to get essential food grains at subsidised prices
• Later, in 2013, when the National Food Security Bill was passed, different ration cards were compressed to just two — priority and Antyodaya (for the most poor).

One Nation One Ration Card scheme

• Each household’s ration card is linked to a specific fair price shop and can only be used to buy rations in that particular shop.
• Over the last few years, 10 States (partially in one) have implemented the Integrated Management of Public Distribution System, which allows beneficiaries to buy rations from any fair price shop within that State.
• The Centre is now in the process of expanding these efforts

Beneficiaries 

• The main beneficiaries of the scheme are the country’s migrant workers.
• According to data from the Census 2011, there are more than 45 crore internal migrants in India, of whom more than half have not completed primary education, while 80% have not completed secondary education.

Significance

• The Centre hopes that allowing ration card portability will also curb corruption and improve access and service quality by removing monopolies.
• Under the new system, if they are denied service or face corruption or poor quality in one shop, they are free to head to a different shop.
• The scheme involves the creation of a central repository of NFSA beneficiaries and ration cards, which will integrate the existing databases maintained by States, UTs and the Centre.
• Aadhaar seeding is also important as the unique biometric ID will be used to authenticate and track the usage of ration by beneficiaries anywhere in the country.
• Currently, it is estimated that around 85% of ration cards are linked to Aadhaar numbers.

Difficulties ahead

• Lack of infrastructure
• Different ration benefits
• Household issue

Lack of data and inventory management

• “Providing portability of food security benefits all across the nation through One Nation One Ration Card can prove to be very beneficial and will bring a big change in the public distribution aspects of the country”.

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