For ‘one nation, one ration card’ to work, India has to fix a bunch of issues on war footing

• Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised that the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme will reach 100% coverage by March 2021.
  
• The use of Aadhaar cards was flagged as being a risk for central government employees.
  
• The portability of the public distribution system (PDS) should allow families to procure essential food supplies even if families are located in different states. However, experts point out that there are several obstacles.
  

India’s biometric identification system, Aadhaar, is no stranger to controversy. Now, the government wants to expand its coverage to ensure 100% coverage under its food security public distribution system (PDS) portability scheme — ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the portability of the PDS system will also allow families to procure pulses and food grains even if members are located in different states.

The Narendra Modi government has promised to roll it out for 83% of the beneficiaries by August 2020 and the remaining by March 2021. However, there are some risks and gaps, which the government and Sitharaman would be aware of and policymakers may have to go on war footing to meet the set deadlines.