The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) project is an initiative by the Government of India aimed at ensuring food security and providing greater mobility to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). It allows beneficiaries to access their subsidized food grains from any ration shop across the country, irrespective of their original place of residence.
Key Features:
- Portability: Enables beneficiaries, especially migrant workers, to access Public Distribution System (PDS) benefits from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) in the country.
- Aadhaar Integration: Uses Aadhaar-based authentication to ensure the rightful delivery of food grains to the beneficiaries.
- Digital Infrastructure: Implements a unified digital platform to track and manage ration cards and distribution.
Objectives:
- Food Security: Ensures continuous access to food grains for all beneficiaries, regardless of their location.
- Mobility for Migrants: Provides flexibility and convenience to migrant workers and their families, who can now obtain their rations from any FPS.
- Transparency and Efficiency: Reduces leakages and corruption in the PDS by leveraging technology and biometric authentication.
Implementation:
- State Integration: States and Union Territories are integrated into the ONORC network, ensuring nationwide coverage.
- Technological Backbone: Utilizes an Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS) to facilitate real-time tracking and distribution.
Benefits:
- Convenience: Beneficiaries can seamlessly access their entitlements from any location.
- Reduction in Duplication: Helps eliminate duplicate and bogus ration cards, ensuring that benefits reach the genuine recipients.
- Empowerment of Migrants: Supports the welfare of migrant workers by providing them continuous access to subsidized food grains.
Challenges:
- Technological Integration: Ensuring seamless integration and interoperability between different states’ PDS systems.
- Awareness and Adoption: Creating awareness among beneficiaries about the benefits and usage of ONORC.
- Aadhaar-Linked Issues: Addressing challenges related to Aadhaar seeding and authentication failures.
The ONORC project represents a significant step towards ensuring food security, enhancing the efficiency of the PDS, and supporting the mobility of India’s diverse and mobile population.