Due to Aadhaar seeding and installation of ePoS devices at the FPSs, at present, around 97 per cent of the transactions in the country are done in a transparent manner through biometric authentication by use of ePoS devices on a monthly basis, minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said.
Around 99.8 per cent of ration cards have been seeded with Aadhaar for the rightful targeting of Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries in the country, the the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan has already been implemented by all 36 States/UTs, across the country. Since its inception around 124 Crore portability transactions have been recorded under the ONORC plan, which includes both inter-State and intra-State transactions ensuring the food security of around 80 Crore beneficiaries in the country.
ONORC plan is proving to be especially beneficial to the migrant labourers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) etc. who frequently change their place of dwelling in search of temporary employment. The minister said that under the plan, the beneficiaries are empowered to lift their entitled foodgrain from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice, anywhere in the country, by using their existing ration card/Aadhaar card with biometric authentication on an electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) device.
Timeline extended
The minister said that ONORC also enables the family members of such migrant beneficiaries back home (in the village/hometown) to lift the part / balance foodgrains on the same ration card. ONORC has also facilitated the migrant beneficiaries/ family members to choose any FPS of their choice without being dependent on visiting only the tagged FPS in their ration cards. Such flexibility was not available earlier under the traditional PDS.
Due to Aadhaar seeding and installation of ePoS devices at the FPSs, at present, around 97 per cent of the transactions in the country are done in a transparent manner through biometric authentication by use of ePoS devices on a monthly basis, the minister said. She added that the ministry has extended the timeline given to the States/UTs for completing the Aadhaar seeding of ration cards up to 31 March 2024. Until then, all States/UTs have been advised that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible ration cards/ beneficiaries and shall not be denied their entitled quota of foodgrains to Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) beneficiaries only for want of Aadhaar number or only on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number, failure of biometric authentication due to network/ connectivity/ linking issues or any other technical reasons etc.
