India is now 100 per cent connected under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC). 45 crore transitions have taken so far providing the beneficiaries with the freedom to collect ration from any state, or union territories, said Union Minister Piyush Goyal
Goyal said that going forward, the system of digitised, Aadhaar linked public distribution will be used to issue Ayushman Bharat Card.
He mentioned that Uttar Pradesh is using the system to issue Ayushman Bharat cards.
Goyal urged other states to consider this system to provide nutritional security as well as health security.
He said that the immunisation of migrant kids can also be linked with the system to ensure medical facilities for them.
Talking about the food subsidy to states, Goyal announced that the deadline to submit claims of pending dues till the year 2019-20 is August 15, 2022.
He reiterated that no dues will be entertained after the deadline.
He added that the pending bills of the States/UTs that will finalize the audited accounts with supporting documents by August 15 2022, will be cleared within 60 days (October 15 2022).
However, the States/UTs that will provide details in the next 3 months (July-Sept 2022), their bills will be paid by January 31, 2023. And the States/UTs that will take longer than that, will not be paid any interest.
According to Goyal, the subsidy claims are pending not because the funds are not available with the Centre, but because the States/UTs are not providing relevant data.
