Govt to use ration card database for other welfare programmes: Food Secy

India's wheat exports reach nearly 3 million tonnes and it is considering some nations' requests for supplies: Sudhanshu Pandey

The Central government plans to use the data generated under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme for 80 crore Food Act beneficiaries aided by other welfare programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN and E-Shram among others, said food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey on Wednesday.

“The NFSA database can act as a Central database for identification of beneficiaries who don’t have Ayushman Bharat cards by the National Health Mission (NHM) or e-shram cards of the labour ministry which will save them from fresh data collection or survey of eligible beneficiaries,” Pandey said.

The food ministry has held discussions with health