Assam has become the 36th and final state to implement the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme. The ONORC scheme has played a pivotal role in ensuring subsidized food grains to National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries, especially migrant beneficiaries, during the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. It happens to be a one-of-its-kind citizen Centric initiative in the country which aims to make food security portable throughout the country.
The programme, which was launched in August 2019, is swiftly implemented in a short span of time and it covers about 80 Crore beneficiaries. The beneficiary-centric high-impact program intends to empower all the NFSA beneficiaries to become self-reliant for their food security anywhere in the country. It will be done by making their existing ration cards portable, which will enable them to seamlessly lift their entitled subsidized foodgrains (in part or full) from any Fair Price Shop of their choice.
This also enables their family members to lift the balance/required amount of food grains on the same ration card at their native/ any place from the FPS of their choice. About 71 Crore portable transactions (43.6 crores NFSA and 27.8 crore PM-GKAY transactions) have taken place under the ONORC scheme since its inception in August 2019, delivering food grains equivalent to about Rs. 40,000 Crore in food subsidy through portability.