Union Home Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced ‘One nation, one ration card’ scheme under which the public distribution cards can be used in any ration shops irrespective of the states.
In order to benefit migrants, the finance minister said that a portal for public ration cards will be brought in benefiting 67 crore people in 23 states which is 83 per cent of the Public Distribution System (PDS) population. Sitharaman further said that the government will ensure 100 per cent of national portability of these cards by March 31, 2021.
“We have already covered 83 per cent. We assure 100 per cent coverage of under public ration cards by March 2021. Under ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme the migrant workers and labourers residing anywhere in the country will be able to avail ration,” the FM added.
The Finance Minister released the second tranche of the ₹20 lakh crore economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a focus on migrant workers, street vendors and farmers.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will supply free food grains for migrants for the next two months. Moreover, the non-card holders under National Food Security Act or state-level cards will receive 5 kilograms of wheat and one kg channa per family.
“The state governments will identify the migrants and we are engaging with the states for the same. Nearly 8 crore migrants will be benefitted from this. The cost of ₹3,500 crores will be borne by the centre,” Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Finance Minister further said that affordable rental accommodation schemes for migrant workers and urban poor will be launched under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The government is incentivising manufacturing and industries to build affordable housing units on their properties, Sitharaman said.
“The government is looking to convert vacant buildings in metro cities for housing. This will be done via Public-Private Partnership (PPP) through concessionaire agreements,” the FM said.
Furthermore, the Finance Minister announced a ₹2 lakh crore concessional credit boost for farmers under the Kisan Credit Card scheme which will benefit nearly 2.5 crore farmers and is aimed at providing farmers access to institutional credit at concessional rates.
Sitharaman also announced that National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will provide an additional emergency working capital funding of ₹30,000 crores to farmers.
Nirmala Sitharaman Reveals The First Set Of Financial Packaging For Atmanirbhar India
Appropriate All Gold Lying With Religious Trusts: Congress Leader Prithiviraj Chavan Tells Centre
Share
Tweet
