The Indian Iris Government Policies | Government Schemes | Government of India | State Government
In a bid to strengthen the National Food Security system of the country the Government of India (GOI) rolled out the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme. The scheme was initially formulated in 2011, by Pranab Mukherjee to figure out ways of commencing direct cash transfers of subsidies and since then the scheme has been in work. However, it was started in 4 states in August 2019 as an inter-state pilot. However, with the Covid 19 pandemic the Supreme Court made it mandatory for all states and union territories to implement the scheme by 31st July. The main objective of the scheme was to ensure the availability of ration to beneficiaries of NFSA in any part of the country. Accessing to ration was earlier strictly tied with the domicile state. With the scheme in the picture, a person can avail of the benefits of food through PDS at any Fair Price Shop of the country.
The Supreme Court’s order to implement the scheme by July 31 was to ensure that the migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country due to the pandemic could become self-reliant in terms of food security.
The main objective is as follows:
- Inter and intrastate portability of ration service across the country
- To build a centralized and digitized food distribution system.
- Installation of Integrated Management of Public Distribution System and e-Pos to ensure transparency in the food security system
- Reach the SDG index of ending hunger by 2030.
First of all, through complete digitization, it aims at supplying the required food quota to the migrant beneficiaries spread across the country. Second, this technology helps in eradicating the corrupt middlemen, ineligible cardholders and reducing leakage in infrastructure and distribution. Third, linking the Aadhar card to the existing ration card through e-PoS devices helps in documenting the number of beneficiaries in the country which will help in the long run for the government to track the level of anemia in the country. Last but not least the scheme enables the beneficiaries to choose their own dealer or any FPS shop if they are subjected to any kind of foul play from the distributor.
