RAS question
One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) allows:
Correct answer: (D) Portability of ration card benefits across states.
One Nation One Ration Card allows portability of ration card benefits across states for NFSA beneficiaries through the Public Distribution System.
Explanation
ONORC is about portability, not a new ration entitlement. The PIB release describes it as a system for delivering food security entitlements to NFSA beneficiaries irrespective of their physical location, through nationwide portability of ration cards. It especially helps migratory beneficiaries who move for temporary employment, because they can lift their entitled quota of foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop of their choice using the same ration card with biometric or Aadhaar-based authentication on an ePoS device. ONORC has been implemented since 2019 and all 36 states and UTs are now integrated, so the core feature tested here is interstate access to existing PDS benefits.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) ONORC does not make ration free for all citizens; it applies to entitled NFSA beneficiaries and concerns access to their existing food security entitlements.
- (B) The scheme is not merely about issuing a digital ration card; the PIB source frames it as portability of ration card benefits through Aadhaar-based authentication at fair price shops.
- (C) ONORC does not create an extra ration quota for migrants; it lets migratory NFSA beneficiaries draw their entitled quota from a fair price shop outside their home location.
Concept
This tests welfare delivery under the Public Distribution System, especially NFSA entitlement portability. It recurs in RAS because food security, migrant welfare and digital governance are standard economy-governance linkages.