Parliament Question: Portability under One Nation One Ration Card

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3115 TO BE ANSWERED ON lITll MARCH, 2026 PORTABILITY UNDER ONE NATION ONE RATION CARD 3115. SHRI JASHUBHAI BHILUBH Al RATHVA: \\’iII the Minister of CONSUNIF£R AFFAIRS. FOOD AND PUBLIC DISI'RIBUTION be pleased to state: (a-) : whether any technology architecture. authentication framework or data integration platforn1 has been proposed for enabling nation\\’ide portability under One Nation One Ration Card: (b): if so. the current status of de\'elopnrcnt or testing of such s}'stenrs; (c): whether pilot implementation or phased rollout has been envisaged prior to nation\\-ide launch; and (d): if so. the details of the tentati\’e timeline for such pilots. if an)-? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA) (a) to (d): 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 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/tiTs. 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. gcSe seescsc