Centre to launch 'one nation, one ration card' scheme

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) In a bid to curb corruption and dependence on one Public Distribution System (PDS) shop, the Central government will launch the 'one nation, one ration card' scheme.The scheme, according to Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan, will ensure that all beneficiaries especially migrants can access PDS across the nation from any shop of their own choice.The Minister asserted that the biggest beneficiary of this will be those migrant labourers who move to other states to seek better job opportunities and will ensure their food security."This will provide freedom to the beneficiaries as they will not be tied to any one PDS shop and reduce their dependence on shop owners and curtail instances of corruption," the Ministry said in a statement.It added that in the next two months, beneficiaries of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be able to access the PDS shops. The objective of the department is to ensure that this is implemented nationally in a time bound manner.At present, the Integrated Management of PDS (IMPDS) is a system that is already operational in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura wherein a beneficiary can avail his share of food grain from any district in the state. Other states have also assured that IMPDS will be implemented at the earliest, the statement said. There will also be the creation of a Central Repository of all RCs which will help in checking duplication.
--IANS pgs/pgh/bg