Govt to use ration card database for other welfare programmes: Food Secy

India's wheat exports reach nearly 3 million tonnes and it is considering some nations' requests for supplies: Sudhanshu Pandey

The Central government plans to use the data generated under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme for 80 crore Food Act beneficiaries aided by other welfare programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN and E-Shram among others, said food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey on Wednesday.

“The NFSA database can act as a Central database for identification of beneficiaries who don’t have Ayushman Bharat cards by the National Health Mission (NHM) or e-shram cards of the labour ministry which will save them from fresh data collection or survey of eligible beneficiaries,” Pandey said.

The food ministry has held discussions with health and labour to share the database. “It is a rich database to conceptualize schemes and modify them,” Pandey told reporters.

Ration card portability under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme works across India, with Assam being the last state to implement the scheme.

Pandey said in this fiscal, India has exported around 3 million tonnes of wheat and is considering requests from some countries for the grain’s supply.

On plans to ban wheat flour (atta) export, Pandey said the government is monitoring the situation. Edible oil prices in the retail market have started easing with softening of international rates and the government's timely intervention.

As per government data, the average retail prices of packaged edible oils have eased, except for groundnut oil, across the country since the beginning of this month and are ruling between Rs 150 and 190 per kg.

Last week, edible oil firms Adani Wilmar and Mother Dairy reduced the MRP (maximum retail price) for different varieties of cooking oils by Rs 10-15 per litre. Both the companies said the stock with new MRPs will hit the market shortly.