Aadhaar-Ration card linking deadline extended from March 31 to June 30

The government has extended the deadline to link Aadhaar cards with the ration card up to June 30 from March 31. The linking of Aadhaar cards with ration cards will ensure that no accurate beneficiary is left without his or her due share of food grains. The process of linking Aadhaar cards with ration cards is significant in view of the benefits for the migrant population, who are denied their entitled food grains in the place of their temporary workplace, especially under the National Food Security Act.

According to the official reports, there are 80 crore beneficiaries under this scheme. As of mid-February, as many as 96 per cent of beneficiaries had been enrolled under ONORC. According to sources, this extension has been given for another three months for several states to catch up to make this 100 per cent and therefore. The earlier deadline of December 31, 2021, was similarly extended till March 31, 2022, and now, it is extended to June 30, 2022.

Over 125 crore citizens have Aadhaar

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Friday stated that the Aadhaar project has crossed the 125 crore mark. This implies that over 1.25 billion residents of India now have the 12-digit unique identity, the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology had said in an official statement. 

77 crore people covered under 'One Nation One Ration Card' scheme

As many as 77 crore people in the country have been covered under the 'One Nation One Ration Card' scheme through which beneficiaries can take their share of food grains from anywhere in the country, Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

Goyal said in Lok Sabha that the technology-driven initiative was conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking into account the problems being faced by migrant workers in getting government benefits.

He said the scheme is now available in 35 states and union territories covering 77 crore beneficiaries.

Through this facility, while a migrant beneficiary is able to get ration at the destination he or she is working in, his or her family back home is also allowed to get their part of the entitled ration to support itself, he said during the Question Hour.