One Nation, One Ration Card Policy Under Question in Tripura, Migrant Beneficiaries Allegedly Denied Pre-Puja Free Sugar and Maida ( Flour)

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, October 25, 2026

Allegations that the One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC) policy is not being effectively implemented by the Tripura Food Department have raised serious concerns over the distribution of pre-Durga Puja benefits to ration card holders across the state. Many ration card beneficiaries who have shifted their residence or migrated from their registered locations are reportedly facing difficulties in accessing the free sugar and maida ( flour) announced for the festive season.

The alleged failure to facilitate ration-card portability has raised questions about whether migrant and relocated beneficiaries are being unfairly excluded from the state government's pre-Puja relief initiative. While the distribution programme is intended to provide assistance to eligible families during the festive season, beneficiaries who no longer collect ration commodities from their original fair-price shops may face difficulties obtaining the announced benefits.

The One Nation, One Ration Card system is designed to enable eligible beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act to access their entitled foodgrains from participating fair-price shops beyond their registered locations. Its portability provisions are particularly important for people who migrate for employment, shift residences or live away from their original registered locations.

However, allegations that the Tripura Food Department has failed to ensure effective portability have raised concerns that numerous beneficiaries across the state have been deprived of the pre-Puja distribution of free sugar and maida.

It is also alleged that the beneficiaries whose ration cards remain valid but who have shifted to other locations are being not allowed to registered their ration card at their new address. And leftover from collect the announced festival commodities from their current fair-price shops. If such beneficiaries are being denied the benefits solely because they no longer visit their original ration shops, the matter warrants immediate examination by the authorities. And questions have also raised that why for the last one year this migrated people's are not getting new ration-card at their new locations.

The alleged denial of benefits has prompted questions about the distribution mechanism, the instructions issued to fair-price shop dealers and the monitoring system maintained by the Food Department. Authorities need to establish how many eligible beneficiaries received the pre-Puja commodities and how many were unable to collect them because of portability-related difficulties.

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