One nation, one ration card in Delhi too

NEW DELHI: In a move that will ensure food security to hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who move in and out of Delhi every year, Delhi government has decided to implement the central government’s “One nation, one ration card scheme”.Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday that the government will implement the scheme in Delhi from the day the doorstep delivery of ration is started. It is likely that the subsidised ration doorstep delivery will start by the beginning of 2021.Since the AAP government had refused to implement Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana in past, the decision to join the ration card scheme also has political significance. The relation between the central government and Delhi government has recently improved.“The central government’s One nation, one ration card scheme will be implemented on the same day when Delhi government’s Mukhyamantri Ghar Ghar Ration yojana will be implemented. This scheme of the central government says that there should be one ration card for all, for instance, if somebody lives in West Bengal or Bihar, and he comes to Delhi in search of job and work, his ration card for that state must be valid in Delhi as well,” Kejriwal stated at a press conference. The scheme will allow them to continue to get ration regardless of the state they are in. The central government is working on the scheme on priority basis and many states have already come on board.Many workers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and other states come to Delhi for work and return during the sowing and harvesting seasons. It causes them to lose their entitlement to ration cards because when ration was distributed after biometric verification of ePoS machines, ration cards would be suspended after issuing a notice to the beneficiaries if they did not collect ration for three consecutive months.Several ration cards have been suspended in Delhi in past. But since April 2018, the ePoS system of verification has been suspended and the ration is being distributed through manual verification.Many migrants who are beneficiaries of subsidised ration in their states are deprived of ration when they come to Delhi. Around 1.8 lakh applications for ration cards are pending in the capital.