5 Benefits of One Nation One Ration Card

1. Beneficial for Migrants: The system, once introduced, would enable beneficiaries to get their quota of grains from any ration shop of their own choice across the country. The ONORC system is of considerable utility to migrants.
2. Reduce Costs for Migrants: Identification of beneficiaries is transaction-cost heavy and is fraught with several inclusion and exclusion errors. If a household moves, to become eligible, the costs must be incurred all over again. Given the quintessential low bargaining power associated with the fact of being a migrant, the costs are generally steeper for migrant families. ONORC, by doing away with duplication and eligibility-related cost escalations, will benefit them significantly.
3. May lead to divisibility of entitlements: Also, as partial migration is a common phenomenon, ONORC, if combined with divisibility in entitlements, can benefit households even more. The migrant member can pick up grains at his location while the family staying back in rural areas pick their share there.
4. Choice of Dealer Open: ONORC will give the beneficiaries the opportunity to opt for the dealer of their choice. If any dealer misbehaves or mis-allocates, the beneficiary can switch to another FPS shop instantly.
5. Strengthen entire PDS Network: Finally, combined with a rating system based on the experiences akin to the Uber/Ola system, the government can improve PDS by closer monitoring and control. Those PDS dealers who perform better could be rewarded. But for the system to work, there needs to be a unified structure like in app-based cabs.