NEW DELHI: In a significant move the Delhi cabinet has decided to implement One Nation One Ration Card (
ONORC) scheme which will enable a large number of poor who migrate from their native places to Delhi in search of livelihood options to obtain ration by using ration cards issued to them in their native states.
Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have devastated the poor, especially the migrant workers who lost livelihood options and are in distress. The ONORC will help them tide over the crisis as they would be getting free ration under NFSA, 2013 and under PM's scheme PMGKAY from Tuesday onwards.
“All the beneficiaries would get ration free of cost in a phased manner through e-PoS (electronic point of sale) on biometric authentication at all fair price shops. Migrant beneficiaries under national portability having proper ration cards and who have been identified under NFSA in their parent state would also get ration free of cost under this plan,” Delhi government said in a statement.
The free of cost ration will be distributed to around 72 lakh beneficiaries attached to around 17 lakh households. Saurabh Gupta and Shailendra Kumar, who represent fair price shop owners unions, said ration under ONORC scheme will be distributed from Tuesday according to the
food department order.
The food department issued an order on Monday evening asking the fair price shops to ensure hassle-free distribution. They have also been asked to mandatorily display a board detailing this entitlement to all beneficiaries. All zonal assistant commissioners, circle food security officers and food security inspectors have been directed to ensure distribution of specified food articles at all fair price shops through e-PoS on biometric authentication.
Delhi’s all over 2,000 fair price shops have successfully conducted trial runs of e-PoS machines and made sure that these are in functional state.
The fair price shops have recently completed the trial runs. The implementation will come as a blessing for thousands of migrant workers who get deprived of free or subsidised ration when they migrate to Delhi in search of jobs. Currently, all such migrant workers are unable to use the ration cards they have carried with them from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and other states to the capital.
In Delhi, under the NFS Act beneficiaries are provided with 5kg of food grain every month under regular entitlement, including 4 kg of wheat and 1 kg of rice. Regular entitlement under the ‘AAY’ category is 25 kg wheat per household, 10 kg rice per household and 1 kg sugar per household. Cost fixed for entitlement is Rs 2 per kg for wheat, Rs 3 per kg for rice and Rs 13.5 per kg for sugar, which is currently not being charged from the NFS beneficiaries (including AAY beneficiaries).
Food and Supply minister Imran Hussain said during the lockdown, the food department has successfully made all-out efforts towards meeting the food requirements of the poor and vulnerable sections of the city including NFS beneficiaries. “Now we have implemented 'One Nation One Card policy' which will benefit migrants living in Delhi to get ration free of cost," Hussain stated.
In an order the food department asked all fair price shop licensees have also been instructed to observe necessary precautions to ensure their safety and also of the beneficiaries while distributing ration. They should inform the beneficiaries that the supply of ration would be available in sufficient quantity. There should be no chaos and panic in getting their ration from fair price shops. The beneficiaries can call helpline number 1967 for getting grievances addressed.