With the nation combating a pandemic many issues have become more important and food security is one of them. The lockdown affecting the supply chain coupled with the locust attacks in several parts of the country has certainly made the government more proactive in the recent period.
It was in this regard that the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Bilas Paswan held a meeting through video conferencing to review the “One Nation One Ration Card” scheme in which NFSA ration card is being provided. In the meeting, the progress of implementing the project was discussed with Assam, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Meghalaya and Tamil Nadu being represented by their Food Minister whereas the rest were represented by their Food Secretaries.”
The Minister remarked that the scheme had been very beneficial during the lockdown in providing the migrant labourer with food which they were able to get through ONOC portability. He also informed that Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Manipur would join the National cluster. Paswan said that there were adequate food grains available in the buffer stock. This is evident from the fact that record wheat procurement of 382 lakh metric tonnes had been done by the government. He further said that ten states have written to him to extend free distribution of food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) for three more months.
Some states/UTs like Andaman and Nicobar Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep and Meghalaya talked about challenges like slow Internet and limited network connectivity that were a barrier in the efficient implementation of the scheme. The minister has said that he will take up this matter with the Department of Telecommunication.
The minister of state for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Raosaheb Patil Danve has urged the remaining state/Uts to implement the ONOC scheme so that any difficulties faced by ration holders during these times could be easily resolved.
