Parliament Question: Portability of ration entitlement for migrant workers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2754 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17Tll MARCH, 2026 PORTABILITY OF RATION ENTITLEMENT FOR MIGRANT WORKERS 2754 SHRI RAJINDER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution be pleased to state

(a): whether steps have been taken to ensure portability of ration entitlements for migrant workers under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme;

(b): the number of portability transactions conducted during the last five years, year-wise and State/UT-wise, and unique beneficiaries covered;

(c): the number of States and Union Territories integrated with the ONORC platform and reasons for any gaps;

(d): whether any assessment has been conducted on migrant workers’ awareness and access issues and the findings thereof; and

(e) : the measures taken to provide food security support to unregistered migrant and seasonal workers? ANSWER M[NISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BANIBHANIYA)

(a): The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) is a technology-driven initiative of the Department of Food and Public Distribution that enables nationwide portability of ration cards for beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFS A). The system allows eligible beneficiaries, particularly migrant workers and other mobile populations, to lift their entitled foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) in the country through Aadhaar-based biometric authentication using ePoS devices. The system integrates ration card databases of all States/UTs and facilitates seamless portability through interoperable ePoS devices deployed at Fair Price Shops.

(b) : The number of portability transactions conducted during the last five years, year-wise and State/UT-wise is at Annexure(c) to (e): The implementation of ONORC was carried out in a phased manner, beginning with pilot inter-State portability transactions in August 2019, followed by gradual onboarding of States/UTs. At present, ONORC has been successfully implemented across all 36 States and Union Territories, covering about 80 crore NFS A beneficiaries (100% of the NFS A population).

Accordingly, the ONORC facility is now automatically available to all PMGKAY beneficiaries across the country. High number of Portability transactions shows wide acceptability ONORC feature among NFS A beneficiaries #####Annexure Portability transactions conducted during the last five years, year-wise and State/UT-wise State Na me 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 ANDAMAN AND NICOB AR ISLANDS 11 ,252 14,212 16,485 21,135 4,48 1 ANDHRA PRADESH 22,737,247 23 ,479, 103 25,2 1 7,768 27,325,928 ,4,521 ,355 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 91 ASSAM 708,799 730,789 346,582 324,37 68,347 1 BIHAR 75,158,669 9 1 ,089,75 1 108,642,685 132,321 ,057 14,5 1 1 ,968 CHHATTISGARH 70 3,892 2,475,288 1 ,447,959 DADAR & NAG AR HAVELI & DAMAN & DIU 98,389 148,1 14 174,049 37,432 DELHI 2,002,4 1 9 5,103,728 13,387,950 14,766,996 2,858,201 GOA 1 1 ,299 22,929 52,852 76,652 14,916 GUJARAT 1 ,096,806 1 ,44 1 ,635 2,038,082 2,624,568 564,345 HAR YAN A 7,404,828 1 1 ,968,023 21 ,557,110 23,3 1 5,748 3 ,378,479 HIN4ACHAL PRADESH 852 38,271 1 1 7,699 31 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 437,239 662,628 899,055 982,566 166,794 2,536,220 3,329,94 4,547,607 4,775,773 672,930 1 KARNATAKA 1 1 ,792,668 12,562,920 12,465,740 11,769,583 .1 ,965,708 KERALA 16,595,409 13,527,206 14,965,803 16,30 1 ,332 3 ,033,930 LADAKH 205 3 ,026 9,297 1 ,955 LAKSHADWEEP 4,844 1 1 ,056 19,961 1 8,036 3 ,246 NIADHYA PRADESH 9,9+5,128 14,581 ,063 16,907,385 18,244,226 3,577,824

11.171,528 11 ,982,247 14, 1 48,343 15,537,152 3,0 1 9,880 MANIPUR MEGHALAYA 61 150 253 302 37 MIZORAM 2,2 1 0 7,34 1 12,460 32, 155 9,260 NAG AL AND 12,054 20,428 30,538. 47, 160 5,318 ODISHA 873,195 798, 1 67 .990,4 1 5 1 ,47 1 ,888 639,644 PUNJAB 3,24 1 ,769 3,134,456 12,7 13,948 16, 151 ,502 3 ,209,5 1 9 RAJASTHAN 20,7 1 2,862 26,937, 165 28,436,9 1 2 3 1 ,952, 159 5,751,159 SIKKIN4 5,297 7,098 27,658 9,734 1 ,650 TAMIL NADU 2,717,752 3,834, 179 4,798,325 5,567,456 931,571 , TELANG ANA 12,605 20,37 1 ,293 22.116, 172 3 ,916,161 TRIPURA 356, 194 409,372 355,165 394,796 72, 144 UTTAR PRADESH 20,454,839 29,8 1 3,083 36,643,303 42,789,286 8,031,112 UTTARAKHAND 178,996 276,926 343,06 1 430,7 1 7 68,524 WEST BENGAL 3 ,844,004 4,06 1 , 156 4,669,438 3,763,494 710,211 Grand Total 259,956,293 344,878,999 l95,790,612 63, 196,060