New Delhi (NVI): The government has granted permission of additional borrowing of Rs 23,523 crore to nine states from the markets after ration card reforms, the Finance Ministry said.
“The state-wise amount of additional borrowing was permitted on account of implementing One Nation One Ration Card System,” the Ministry of Finance said in statement.
So far, nine states have successfully completed reforms in PDS and implemented “One Nation One Ration System”. On completion of reforms, additional borrowing permission of Rs 23,523 crore has been issued to them, it added.
The ministry also said, among the 9 states are — Andhra Pradesh with additional borrowing of Rs 2,525 crore, Goa with Rs 223 crore, Haryana with Rs 2,146 crore, Karnataka with Rs 4,509 crore, Kerala with Rs 2,261 crore, Telangana with Rs 2,508 crore, Tripura with Rs 148 crore and Uttar Pradesh with Rs 4,851 crore.
In view of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has strengthened the hands of the states through multiple measures. These included grant of additional borrowing permission of 2 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the ministry said.
“This has enabled the states to mobilise additional financial resources to fight the pandemic and maintain the standards of service delivery to the public,” it added.
However, to ensure long-term debt sustainability and prevent any adverse impact on future, a part of the additional borrowing was linked to the States carrying out reforms in the sectors critical for service delivery to the citizens.
One of the sectors identified for reforms is the public distribution system. Out of the additional borrowing limit of 2 per cent of GSDP, 0.25 per cent is linked to implementation of “one nation one ration card system”.
The ministry further said, this was aimed to ensure that the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes, especially the migrant workers and their families, get ration from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) across the country.
Other aims of the intended reform were to better target beneficiaries, elimination of bogus, duplicate or ineligible ration cards to reduce leakage. In addition to this, other reforms specified as a precondition to avail additional borrowing are, ease of doing business reform, urban local bodies and power sector reforms.
Furthermore, the Department of Food and Public Distribution in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, is the Nodal Department to certify that a State has met the conditions stipulated for this reform.
The ministry noted that, to become eligible for additional borrowing, the States have to complete the reforms by December 31. It is also expected that many more states will complete this reform before the stipulated date.
-RJV
