Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that India would move towards a
“one nation, one ration card” system to help the poor across the country. The
announcement comes at a time when the NDA-ruled Centre has been facing flak for
its alleged mismanagement of the exodus of guest workers triggered by the
lockdown.
“In the
coming times, for all of India, there will be one single ration card, which
will benefit those poor workers who are living in other states,” the prime
minister said.
The PM also
announced that the supply of free foodgrain to the poor, a scheme named PM
Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) that began three months ago, will continue
until the end of November. This will entail an additional expenditure of Rs
90,000 crore to provide free grain to around 80 crore people, in addition to
the Rs 60,000 crore already spent.
“Until
November 2020, we will continue to provide five kilos of free rice or wheat as
well as one kilo of free chana (lentil) to feed 80 crore poor under the PM
Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY),” the prime minister said and added that Rs
31,000 crore have been deposited in the bank accounts of 20 crore people in the
last three months.
The one
nation, one ration card system will enable guest workers and their families to
access PDS benefits from any fair price shop (FPS) in the country. In the
present system, a ration card holder can only access the PDS from the FPS in
his or her locality. Under the new system, he or she can buy subsidised grain
from an FPS in another state too. This will be made possible through biometric
authentication on electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices.
By January
2020, at least 12 states joined the “one nation, one ration card” initiative;
eight more joined by June 1. While announcing her second trench of the
Aatmanirbhar package, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that 67
crore people will be covered under the policy by August this year. The
government aims to make it pan-India by March next year.
Today's
address to the nation was an attempt by the PM to put speed on his next project
of bringing the entire country under one welfare umbrella over which the
central government would have a greater say unlike in the present system where
welfare disbursement is largely left to the states. The great distress felt by
guest workers immediately after the corona lockdown serves as a ready rationale
for bringing in this move at this jucnture.
A single ration card system would
reduce the chances of large-scale migration during a crisis like the lockdown.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi today announced that the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
(PMGKAY) will be extended till November 2020. Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was launched to provide relief to the poor and needy
class during the COVID-19.
These states
of india have been integrated under 'One Nation, One Ration card' system are as
follows — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan,
Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand and Tripura. Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Daman and Diu.
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