One nation, one ration card for migrants by March 2021: Sitharaman

One Nation, One Ration Card will be implemented under which ration cards can be used anywhere in India. Without cards also, the workers can get the grains NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, Finance minister

NEWDELHI: Beneficiaries of cheap food grains under the National Food Security Act will be able to get their monthly ration quota from any part of the country, and not just their home districts, via a digitised distribution platform by March 2021, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday.

When the system is fully operational, migrant families will be able to get subsidised rations from places where they temporarily relocate for work, she added.

These measures for migrants were announced by Sitharaman as part of the “second tranche” of measures under ~20-lakh crore stimulus announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

“One Nation, One Ration Card will be implemented under which ration cards can be used anywhere in India. Without cards also, the workers can get the grains,” said Sitharaman.

Under the food security law, nearly 810 million poor Indians receive 5kg of foodgrain per person monthly at a subsidised rate of ~2-3 per kg. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, the ration quota was enhanced by another 5 kg for free for the next three months in March.

The lockdown announced on March 24 shuttered shops, factories, and constructions, rendering millions of workers jobless.

The plight of thousands of workers fleeing cities could have been eased by the One Nation, One Ration card digitised platform launched last year by the Union food ministry but it is only being gradually expanded.

“The digitisation is not going to solve some of the longstanding issues... That is why we have argued for complete universal access,” said Aysha, an activist of › the right to food campaign, who goes by one name.