Ladakh, Lakshadweep join Centre's ration card portability scheme; 26 states, UTs now linked

Ladakh and Lakshadweep have the joined the Centre’s ration card portability scheme ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’, taking the total number of states and Union territories linked with the scheme to 26, a food ministry statement said. Under the scheme, eligible beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) will be able to avail their entitled foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS), also called ration shops, in the country using the same ration card. The integration of Ladakh and Lakshadweep with the national portability network was approved recently in a review meeting chaired by Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Remaining states are targeted to be integrated in the scheme by March 2021. “Both the UTs (Ladakh and Lakshadweep) have completed the trial and testing of national portability transactions with other states/UTs in the national cluster,” the statement said. With this, a total of 26 states/UTs are now seamlessly connected with each other under the ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ plan and will benefit about 65 crore people, it said. Now, ration card holders in these states/UTs can access their quota of foodgrains at a subsidised rate from any FPS of their choice with effect from 1 September, it added. The ministry said ration card portability will benefit those who frequently change their place of dwelling in search of temporary jobs. They now have an option of lifting their entitled quota of foodgrains from any FPS of their choice anywhere in the country by using their same/existing ration card with biometric/Aadhaar based authentication on an electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) device installed at the FPS, it added. There are more than 81 crore ration card holders under NFSA and each beneficiary is entitled for 5 kg foodgrains at a subsidised rate of Rs 1-3 per kilogram a month. The other 24 states/UTs which have joined the ration card portability network are — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.