India completes ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ implementation

Context

With Assam becoming the last state to implement the one nation one ration card (ONORC) scheme, its pan-India rollout is now complete.

Under the scheme, beneficiaries can get access to highly subsidised foodgrains under public distribution system anywhere in the country.
Launched in August 2019, ONORC ensures portability of around 240 million ration cards.
It enables migrant ration-card-holders to lift their quota of grain entitlement from any fair price shop (FPS) in the country by using the ration card issued in their home states or Union Territory after biometric authentication on electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices installed at the FPS.
Since the launch of ONORC, 710 million portable transactions – 436 million under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and 278 million under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyana Anna (PMGKAY) transactions have taken place under ONORC.
Subsidised food grains worth Rs 40,000 crore is delivered to beneficiaries through portability.