In a bid to take India achieving the objective of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has implemented the inter-State portability of ration cards i.e. public distribution in 4 adjoining states.

The inter-state portability of ration cards is undertaken in a pairing of two States each viz Telangana and Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Under this mechanism, a beneficiary from one state will be able to avail entitled subsidized foodgrains under Food Security Act from ration shops/Public Distribution System (PDS)/Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in any other paired state.

This means beneficiaries living in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh can buy their quota of ration PDS (ration shops), in either of the two States. Similar will be the in case of Maharashtra and Gujarat. In these four states, both intra-state and inter-state portability of ration card has been implemented successfully.

The intra-state and inter-state portability of ration card holders is achieved through the installation of electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices FPSs, supported by the biometric/Aadhaar authentication