Lok Sabha Question No. 548 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: ONORC
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Malaiyarasan D

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 548 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3RD DECEMBER, 2025

## ONORC

## 548.  SHRI MALAIYARASAN D:

Will  the Minister of  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of  the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme including the number of States and Union  Territories  where it has been fully  implemented;
- (b) the total number of ration card beneficiaries  who are able to  access Public Distribution System (PDS) benefits across States including migrant workers, since the rollout  of  ONORC;
- (c) whether the Government has identified  any technical, administrative or logistical  challenges in implementing ONORC nationwide;
- (d) the details of the steps taken by the Government to ensure seamless portability of ration benefits for migrant workers and urban poor including Tamil  Nadu; and
- (e) the details of  the measures being taken by  the  Government to  monitor, evaluate and strengthen the ONORC scheme, ensuring that no eligible beneficiary is excluded?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF STATE FOR MINISTRY  OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)

- (a) &  (b): The nationwide portability of  ration cards is popularly known as One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)  feature is  enabled in all  36 States/UTs.  Through this  technology driven reform,  around 80  Crore Pradhan Mantri  (larib  Kalyan  Anna  Yojana  (PMGKAY) beneficiaries are empowered to lift  their entitled foodgrains from  any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice, anywhere in the country, by using their same existing ration card with  biometric authentication on an electronic Point of  Sale (ePoS) device. The family  back home can also lift  the part of  the PMGKAY  foodgrains in the home State/UT on the same ration card.
- (c): ONORC has been implemented seamlessly in  all  36 States/UTs and is operating without any technical, administrative, or logistical  challenges.

(d): The  ONORC  facility is  automatically available  to  all  eligible  PMGKAY beneficiaries . without  any additional  requirement. It  has been implemented across all  36 States/UTs, including Tamil Nadu, enabling seamless portability of  ration benefits for  all  beneficiaries, including migrant  workers  and the  urban  poor.  The  system covers  100%  of  PMGKAY beneficiaries, allowing them  to  lift their  entitled foodgrains from  any  Fair  Price  Shop  using  Aadhaar-based authentication. To  date, more than 195 crore  portability  transactions have been recorded under ONORC, including  1.93 crore  transactions in Tamil  Nadu, covering both inter-State and intraState

(e): ONORC has been developed on a robust IT backbone that has been functioning  seamlessly since its inception  in 2019. System performance, authentication success rates, transaction patterns, and grievance inputs are regularly analysed to strengthen service delivery and ensure that no eligible beneficiary is excluded. Further, the entire PDS IT ecosystem is being modernised under SMART-PDS,  using a new microservices-based  architecture hosted on cloud infrastructure, which will  further enhance reliability,  scalability, and beneficiary experience.

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