Trace the evolution of India’s Public Distribution System and evaluate the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) initiative.

Introduction:

The National Food Security Act 2013 entitles 81.35 crore beneficiaries to subsidised foodgrain; the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) has been operational across all 36 states and UTs since June 2022, recording over 145 crore portability transactions on the Annavitran portal — making India's PDS the world's largest food-security platform.

Evolution:

PDS began as an urban rationing system in the 1960s, was reorganised as the Targeted PDS in 1997, and graduated to a rights-based regime under NFSA 2013. Antyodaya Anna Yojana extends 35 kg per household to 1.5 crore poorest families, while PMGKAY (extended for five years from January 2024 with a ₹11.8 lakh crore outlay) doubled entitlements during COVID-19. Tamil Nadu's universal PDS and Chhattisgarh's CORE reforms became national benchmarks.

ONORC architecture:

Built on the Integrated Management of PDS (IMPDS) and Annavitran portals, ONORC uses Aadhaar-based biometric authentication at e-PoS terminals in over 95% of Fair Price Shops. Migrant workers can draw partial rations anywhere — a structural answer to interstate labour mobility revealed during the 2020 lockdown.

Persistent gaps:

Coverage still uses Census 2011 ratios, excluding millions added since; biometric failures hurt the elderly, disabled, and labourers with worn fingerprints; PMGKAY's 5 kg per person sits awkwardly beside AAY's 35 kg household entitlement. Leakages persist in non-DCP states, and many migrants are unaware of portability.

Way forward / Conclusion:

Adopt SECC 2021 data once finalised, mandate biometric exemption for the elderly, scale cash-transfer pilots in surplus states, and integrate ONORC with the e-Shram migrant database by 2027 under MoCAFPD.