One Nation One Ration Card Reaches All 36 States and UTs

A Press Information Bureau backgrounder issued on 12 November 2026 set out where the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme now stands. The scheme was started in 2019 by the Department of Food and Public Distribution and lets a card holder draw subsidised grain from any Fair Price Shop in the country, without applying for a fresh card after shifting home. It works on top of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), which creates the legal entitlement to cheap grain, while the Targeted Public Distribution System actually hands the grain over.

How far it has spread

ONORC is running in all 36 States and Union Territories, and every beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana falls within it. About 3.27 crore portability transactions pass through the system each month. Counting from the day it began, the scheme has logged more than 233 crore such transactions, within States and between them, and over 614 LMT of foodgrains have moved through them.

The digital spine

Ration card and beneficiary records were fully digitised in every State and Union Territory by October 2026, covering roughly 78.65 crore people, and the data sits on public transparency portals. Of the 20.51 crore ration cards in the central system, 20.27 crore or 98.8 per cent carry an Aadhaar link, and the count of Aadhaar-seeded beneficiaries stands at 76.97 crore. As on 30 September 2026, e-KYC had been finished for 71.52 crore beneficiaries, which is 91 per cent of the whole. Grievances are handled through transparency portals, online complaint systems and toll-free helplines in every State and Union Territory.

Shops, supply chain and clean-up

Online allocation of grain works countrywide. Analytics run on Aadhaar and PDS records marked 5.95 crore doubtful entries, and 2.58 crore duplicate or ineligible names were struck off in the first round of the Rightful Targeting exercise; a later version flagged and removed 68 lakh more.

SARTHAK-PDS and the Mera Ration app

Two efforts named NIRMAL and SAKSHAM sit under the SARTHAK-PDS umbrella scheme. NIRMAL builds the data architecture and the analytics behind it, while SAKSHAM looks after real-time data integration and vehicle location tracking from procurement right down to distribution. SARTHAK-PDS pays for the movement of grain inside a State, for handling and for the margins of shop dealers, and is to run through 31 March 2031. SMART-PDS, also under that umbrella, ties ration cards, distribution, supply chains and grievance handling into one integrated central system and plugs technology gaps at the State level.

The Mera Ration mobile application, available in 13 languages, lets a beneficiary check the monthly entitlement, read past transactions, confirm Aadhaar seeding, test eligibility for national portability, register for ONORC and find the nearest Fair Price Shop by GPS with directions on a map. It is aimed above all at migrants who have just moved to a new area.