- The government has launched inter-state portability of ration cards between Telangana-Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra-Gujarat as a pilot project to implement ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ across the country by June 1,2020.
- The beneficiaries in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh can now buy their quota of ration from Public Distribution System (PDS) or ration shops in either state.Similar would be the case in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
- One nation one ration card scheme is all about inter-state portability of ration cards.It enables the beneficiaries who are taking food grains under the Public Distribution System(PDS) to access the same benefits if they happen to migrate from one part of the country to the other in a seamless manner.
- The Union Government plans to extend the One nation one ration card scheme to all the states by June 2020 to enable the portability of the food security card.
- This will provide freedom to the beneficiaries as they will not be tied to any one PDS shop and reduce their dependence on shop owners and curtail instances of corruption.
- Ration cards are an official document issued by state governments in India to households that are eligible to purchase subsidized food grain from the Public Distribution System under the National Food Security Act.
- The National food security act is an anti-hunger legislation passed in 2013.It grants the poor a legal right to cheap food.The beneficiaries receive 5kg of foodgrain per person per month at a subsidized rate of Rs 2-3 a kg.