One Nation One Ration Card UPSC

One Nation One Ration Card

During lockdown, announced with a desire to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve, the worst sufferers of this lockdown are lakhs of migrant workers working in urban areasmostly in unorganised sectors. Layoffs, drying of incomes and food insecurity created more troubles. Many of them are not having ration cards in urban areas, hence are not able to get food benefits from the government. In this regard, it has now become imperative to fully implement ration card portability i.e. ONE NATION, ONE RATION CARD pan India. 

Recently, Bihar, Punjab, UP, Himachal and Daman and Diu have been integrated with the scheme. Till now, 17 states have joined the scheme. This scheme was launched in June 2019. 

About One Nation One Ration Card Scheme

• 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. Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), each beneficiary is eligible for five kg of subsidised grains per month at the rate of 3/kg for rice, 2/kg for wheat and 1/kg of coarse cereals. 

• Till last year, this has been a location-linked benefit, leaving crores of migrant workers and families out of the food safety net. 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. 

• Hence, the central government announced in June 2019 a nationwide portability network which is called the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme. It is scheduled to come into full effect by June 2020, after which a ration card holder can buy subsidised grain at any fair price shop in the country. 

What are the Benefits? Who will gain the most from One Nation One Ration Card ? 

• 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. Lower levels of education are linked to lower income, which would make a large percentage of these migrants eligible for NFSA benefits. Registering for ration cards at their new location is an arduous process, especially if some members of the household still remain in their original home. Apart from this, field studies estimate that four crore to ten crore people are short-term migrants, often working in cities, but not moving there permanently. Women who change locations after marriage also find it difficult to start accessing ration benefits using a new household’s card. 

• The Centre hopes that allowing ration card portability will also curb corruption and improve access and service quality by removing monopolies. Under the old system, beneficiaries were dependent on a single fair price shop and subject to the whims of its dealer. 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 is also driving the faster implementation of initiatives to digitise and integrate the food storage and public distribution system. 

What is Need to make One Nation One Ration Card work ? 

• The scheme involves the creation of a central repository of NFSA beneficiaries and ration cards, which will integrate the existing databases maintained by States, Union Territories 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. 

• For the scheme to work, it is critical that all fair price shops are equipped with electronic point-of-sale machines (ePoS), replacing the old method of manual record-keeping of transactions with a digital real-time record. 

• On the back-end, the Food Corporation of India’s Depot Online System is integrating all warehouses and godowns storing subsidised grain in an attempt to create a seamless flow of online information from procurement until distribution. 

What is progress so far on One Nation One Ration Card ?

• A standard format for ration card has been prepared after taking into account the format used by different states. 

• For national portability, the state governments have been asked to issue the ration card in bi-lingual format, wherein besides the local langauge, the other language could be Hindi or English. 

• The states have also been told to have a 10-digit standard ration card number, wherein first two digits will be state code and the next two digits will be running ration card numbers. 

• Besides this, a set of another two digits will be appended with ration card number to create unique member IDs for each member of the household in a ration card. 

• Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Tripura, Bihar, Punjab, UP, Himachal and Daman and Diu are where ration card portability has been implemented. 

Benefits emanating from One Nation One Ration Card 

• Interoperability of Ration Card: Under the scheme, the beneficiaries from one state can get their share of rations in other states where the ration card was originally issued. After the scheme gets implemented at the national level, any PDS recipient can use their ration cards at any PDS shop across the country. It seeks to provide universal access to PDS food grains for migrant workers. 

• Empowering Consumers: The scheme will also give the beneficiaries the opportunity to opt for the dealer of their choice. If any dealer misbehaves or misallocates, the beneficiary can switch to another FPS shop instantly. 

• Reducing Social Discrimination: It will be particularly beneficial for women and other disadvantaged groups, given how social identity (caste, class and gender) and other contextual factors (including power relations) provide a strong backdrop in accessing PDS. 

• Achieving SDG: This will help achieve the target set under SDG 2: Ending hunger by 2030. Also, it will address the poor state of hunger in India, as highlighted by the Global Hunger Index, where India has been ranked 102 out of 117 countries.