UP ready for national rollout ahead of Centre’s deadline

LUCKNOW:Uttar Pradesh is ready for the national rollout of the ‘One Nation, One Card’ scheme anytime as it has already started inter-district and inter-state ration card portability with 15 states, commissioner, food and civil supplies, Manish Chauhan said on Friday. The Centre has fixed March 2021 as the deadline for the countrywide launch of the scheme.

Once the national rollout is in place, any person holding a ration card under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) can buy his monthly ration from any public distribution system (PDS) outlet in the country just by mentioning his card number.

“Let all other states make their preparations, we, on our part, are ready for the national portability of ration cards,” Chauhan said.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that as of now 20 states had come on board to implement the inter-state ration card portability. “The national rollout of the One Nation, One Card System in all the states and Union Territories will be made by March 2021,” she said ,while announcing the second tranche of the Rs 20 lakhcrore economic stimulus package. The system, she said, would help migrant workers and their family members avail of the public distribution system (PDS) benefits from any fair price shop in the country. UP has inter-state portability with 15 states— Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Bihar, Punjab Himachal Pradesh and one Union Territory—Dadra Nagar Haveli.

UP began inter-district and inter-state portability with 16 states from May 1. The portability is applicable to all the ration cards that have been active for last six months. “Till now, 6.27 lakh intra-district and 47,229 inter-district beneficiaries have availed the portability service,” Chauhan said, adding, “As many as 22 people from Maharashtra, one from Kerala, 23 from Haryana and two from Rajasthan have availed the portability in UP while UP’s three residents have taken their ration in Karnataka and 10 in Maharashtra .”

THE SYSTEM WILL HELP MIGRANT WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS AVAIL PDS BENEFITS FROM ANYWHERE