One Nation, One Ration Card plan

• Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has approved the integration of five more States and Union Territories with the National Cluster under the One Nation, One Ration Card plan.

Key highlights:

• These States and UTs are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

• Twelve states have already under One Nation, One Ration Card plan namely – Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura.

• With this, the facility of national and inter-state portability will be available for nearly 60 Crore beneficiaries of 17 States and UTs.

• They will now lift their entitled quota of foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop of their choice, anywhere in these 17 States and UTs by using their existing ration card under One Nation, One Ration Card plan.

• Constant efforts are also being made to expand the reach of One Nation, One Ration Card plan to the beneficiaries of other States and UTs.