By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, FEB 09, 2021: RAJASTHAN has become the 12th State to successfully undertake the 'One Nation One Ration Card' (ONORC) reform stipulated by the Ministry of Finance and become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources of Rs. 2,731 crore on Tuesday.

Eleven other States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, have also completed the ONORC reform and the 12 States have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs. 33,440 crore by the Department of Expenditure.

The ONORC is a citizen-centric reform introducing nationwide portability of ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. It empowers migrant beneficiaries to seamlessly access their foodgrain and benefits from anywhere in the country.

Rajasthan's announcement comes after the Central government's announcement that the ONORC plan for nationwide portability of ration cards has been enabled in 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) covering nearly 69 crore beneficiaries.

The reform enables States in better targeting of beneficiaries and elimination of bogus or ineligible ration card holders, thereby reducing leakage. To ensure seamless inter-State portability, Aadhar seeding of all ration cards as well as biometric authentication of beneficiaries through automation of all Fair Price Shops (FPSs) with installation of electronic point of sale (e-PoS) devices are essential.

To meet the resource challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in May, the government enhanced the borrowing limit of the States by 2 per cent and linked half the dispensation to them undertaking citizen-centric reforms in the ONORC system, ease of doing business, urban local body and the power sector.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has asked States and UTs to submit their requisite proposal towards additional borrowing under the ONORC to the department by February 15, 2021.