Delhi’s ONORC Is Misleading, Very Limited Implementation: Centre Tells SC

What is the issue

• One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme makes food security “portable” and is tailor-made for migrant laborers, the government told the Supreme Court on Monday.
• The government said in its written submissions that with the growing number of inter-State migration from villages and rural areas to big cities, the effort was to ensure that migrant workers and their families got assured access to nutrition through national portability of ration cards under the Food Security Act.
• However, The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the Delhi government's claims of the launching of 'one nation one ration card' (ONORC) in the national capital were misleadingas the scheme was initiated only in one area of Seemapuri.
• The Centre Fin its affidavit further stated that unless the national portability transactions are rolled out formally in all Fair Price Shops (FPSs) of all Circles of NCT Delhi, in which more than 2000 epos machines have been supplied and waiting for an operation, it cannot be considered as an implementation of ONORC.

Details of the case

• The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, had submitted before a bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah that Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and West Bengal, were yet to implement ONORC. The Delhi government counsel had then submitted that it has implemented the scheme.
• Concerning the Delhi government's claim, the Centre, in a fresh submission stated that a very large number of inter-state migrants are present here. Numerous street dwellers, rag-pickers, migratory laborers, construction workers, rickshaw pullers, auto/taxi drivers, etc, do not have access to their National Food Security Act (NFSA) food grains. In the absence of full implementation of ONORC the migrant workers will not able to take the benefit of their quota in Delhi.
• The Centre further stated that unless the national portability transactions are rolled out formally in all the FPSs (fair price shops) of all circles of NCT Delhi, in which more than 2000 ePoS machines have been supplied and waiting for the operation, it cannot be considered as an implementation of ONORC.
• The Delhi government has claimed that the Centre has stopped its ambitious doorstep delivery of ration scheme, which expected to be launched soon. The Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the ration delivery to homes sounds like a novel idea, but there are loopholes and possibilities for corruption.
• The Centre stressed that the integration of remaining four States/UT of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and West Bengal is expected to be achieved, depending upon the technical readiness of these States to implement the portability of ration cards and the onus of implementing ONORC is on these States.

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