Ration card holders in 11 other States can now buy subsidised ration items in Kerala under an inter-State portability system.
Food Minister P. Thilothaman announced here on Wednesday that the portability system had come into effect. With this, AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana) and priority card holders in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tripura can purchase rations from fair price shops in any of the 12 States in the grid. The beneficiaries will be identified through the biometric method using Aadhaar card. E- PoS machines used for the purpose are being updated in the whole cluster.
Subsidised grains
Priority cardholders can avail of 5 kg of subsidised grains a month at the rate of ₹3 a kg for rice and ₹2 a kg for wheat in any of the 12 States. However, kerosene, wheat flour, sugar and other grains sold through public distribution system (PDS) outlets have not been included in the inter-State portability network.
An official press note quoting the Minister said the system would help migrant workers from other States and Malayalis residing in other States to avail of ration without changing their ration card.
Portability system
The portability system is part of the One Nation, One Ration Card scheme introduced by the Central government. It is scheduled to come into full effect by June 2020, after which a ration card holder can buy subsidised grain at any fair price shops in the country. The scheme involves the creation of a central repository of NFSA (National Food Security Act) beneficiaries and ration cards, which will integrate the existing databases maintained by States, Union Territories and the Centre.
The scheme is aimed at faster implementation of initiatives to digitise and integrate the food storage and public distribution system.
