Solan dist tops in use of ration card by migrants

Ambika Sharma

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Solan, April 23

Among the migrants who availed the benefits of the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ (ONORC) in the state in April so far, a massive 93.9 per cent are residing in Solan district.

With the district housing the maximum number of migrants in its industrial belts of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) as well as Parwanoo, the maximum number of migrant users of this scheme are from there. The scheme was introduced in the state in May 2020.

An analysis of the migrants who have availed the benefits of the scheme in April revealed that out of the total of 4,581 across the state, 4,305 pertain to Solan. Merely 194 availed the facility in Sirmaur, 35 in Kangra, 29 in Bilaspur, nine in Una, four each in Hamirpur and Shimla and one in Kullu.

The lion’s share of 3,403 migrants hail from Uttar Pradesh followed by 1,047 from Bihar, 71 from Madhya Pradesh, 25 from Jharkhand, 17 from Uttrakhand and the rest from Delhi, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

“Migrants are concentrated in the bordering districts of Solan, Sirmaur, Kangra and Bilaspur, with Solan being their choicest terrain. The presence of industries in the BBN belt and Parwanoo is a big attraction for them as they find ample job opportunities either by working in the factories or opening small kiosks to sell wares,” said Narinder Dhiman, District Controller, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Solan.

“The fair price shops located in the BBN belt have seen an exponential rise in the number of beneficiaries ever since the ONORC scheme was introduced. Depot holders at Jharmajri, Baddi, Nalagarh, Gurumajra, Baddi as well as Thana in the BBN belt were registering a manifold increase in the number of ration card users,” Dhiman added.

He further said the quota of foodgrain allocated to the state had registered an increase after the introduction of this scheme. The need to open more ration depots is being increasingly felt in the industrial clusters.

The ONORC scheme has nationalised a beneficiary’s ration card by a process called Aadhaar Seeding, which ensures that the beneficiary can pick their entitled foodgrain from any fair price shop in the country.

Earlier, it was observed that migrants who were registered in their native states were also availing the benefits of this scheme in Himachal after obtaining a fresh ration card here. Since the ration card is now Aadhaar-linked, it has put an end to duplication.