New Delhi (NVI): The Centre today said that 17 states have successfully operationalised “One Nation One Ration Card” system with Uttarakhand being the latest state to complete the reform.
These states are Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
“States completing One Nation One Ration Card system reform are eligible for additional borrowing of 0.25 percent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
Accordingly, these 17 states have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs 37,600 crore by the Department of Expenditure. State wise amount of the additional borrowing permitted to these states is annexed, it added.
Notably, One Nation One Ration Card System is an important citizen centric reform. Its implementation ensures availability of ration to beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes, especially the migrant workers and their families, at any Fair Price Shop (FPS) across the country.
The ministry also stated that the reform especially empowers the migratory population mostly labourers, daily wagers, urban poor like rag pickers, street dwellers, temporary workers in organised and unorganised sectors, domestic workers among others who frequently change their place of dwelling to be self reliant in food security.
This technology driven reform enables the migrant beneficiaries to get their entitled quota of food grains from any electronic point of sale (e-PoS) enabled fair Price Shops of their choice anywhere in the country.
It further enables the states in better targeting of beneficiaries, elimination of bogus/ duplicate/ineligible card holders resulting in enhanced welfare and reduced leakage.
Therefore, additional borrowing limit of 0.25 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is allowed to the states only on completion of aadhar seeding of all the ration cards and beneficiaries and automation of all the FPSs with installation of electronic point of sale (e-PoS) devices in the state.
On May 17, 2020, in view of the resource requirement to meet multiple challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of India had on enhanced the borrowing limit of the states by 2 percent of their GSDP, the statement said.
“Half of this special dispensation i.e. 1 percent of GSDP was linked to undertaking citizen centric reforms by the States,” it added.
The four citizen centric areas for reforms identified by the Department of Expenditure were implementation of One Nation One Ration Card system, ease of doing business reform, Urban Local body/ utility reforms and power sector reforms.
With Tamil Nadu being the biggest state in terms of GSDP, it was granted permission to borrow Rs 4,813 crore followed by Karnataka at Rs 4,509 crore, as per the Finance Ministry.
-RJV
