Ration issue will be discussed: Minister

Velu brought a ‘Calling Attention’ motion on the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ policy recently rolled out by the Centre, in which he said, “One Nation One Ration card policy is an infringement on the rights of the state as every state has separate policy in supplying goods in ration shops. The policy of the Centre will erode the federal nature of the country and so the state should not accept the policy of the Centre.”

He also said that every state follows its unique model of Public Distribution System (PDS) and for instance some of the northern states follow targeted PDS model while Tamil Nadu is following Universal PDS. For instance, in Tamil Nadu 20 kg of rice is provided for free whereas in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, wheat is provided in large numbers compared to rice and so there are several problems in the implementation.

Already, there is huge financial burden in PDS for the state as migrated population from North India is provided food materials in ration shops and if the singular ration card system is accepted it will accumulate the financial burdens of the state.

State Food Minister Kamaraj, in his reply, said, “The policy is declared on an experimental basis in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana and is not implemented across the nation. Concerned officials will be discussed about the pros and cons of the scheme and decision would be taken based on the discussion.”