To cater to the poor section of the society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared the 'One nation, One Ration Card' (ONORC) scheme on June 30. On Thursday, Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution declared that the ONORC scheme will mostly likely commence from January next year, two months ahead of the original deadline, March 31.
According to a Zee Business report, the minister said, the whole committee is trying to get all States and UTs on board with 'One Nation, One Ration Card' scheme by next year January. Not all states and UTs were ready as there would be several issues with network connectivity. However, the ministry has passed on the information to the department of telecommunications (DoT). As per the media reports, DoT is willing to provide one year of free net connection to every gram panchayat.
During a video conference, Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said, under the 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' (ANBA) scheme, balanced food grains will be distributed until August 31. Along with the announcements, he also lauded PM Modi's decision to extend Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) for the next five months - till Nov 2020. He said, during these trying times caused by COVID-19 outbreak, PM Narendra Modi had initiated two big foodgrains distribution schemes - PMGKAY and ANBA for the poor and vulnerable section.
The foodgrains distribution extension until August 31 comes in place, as it took some time to identify ANBA beneficiaries, said the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution minister. He informed states and UTs will complete their free food grains and whole gram under distribution by the end of August.
The poor and needy can benefit from Atma Nirbhar Bharat (ANB) package, as it distributes 5kg of free foodgrains per person and 1 kg of a free whole gram per family.
Edited by Najooka Javier
