Almost 79% migrants availed PDS at their home locations, says study

Despite implementation of the One Nation One Ration Card Scheme, which is a game-changer for beneficiaries, portability among migrants has been found to be low.

This is because 79 per cent of them avail PDS only at their home locations, a new study has found.

The study conducted jointly by the Council for Social Development (CSD) and German Development Bank, KFW, showed that a greater proportion of intra-state migrant families are exercising portability (42 per cent). This compares to only 16.9 per cent and 5.3 per cent among inter-state and both inter and intra-state migrant households respectively. The study was conducted between March 2019 and April 2022, both through secondary sources and direct field surveys.

“Portability is low among inter-state migrants as fear of losing identity is large among them,” said Nitya Nanda, director of CSD.

Field surveys were conducted on 3,488 beneficiaries of at least one of the six identified social schemes spread across Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which are key migrant source states. They were also conducted in Uttar Pradesh (parts adjoining Delhi) and Kerala, which are key destinations for migrant workers and constitute a large proportion of urban poor.

The six schemes that were undertaken for the study are Public Distribution System/One Nation One Ration Card (PDS/ONORC), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY), Indira Gandhi National Old-Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS).

These schemes were vital components of the special relief package of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, totaling around Rs 1.7 trillion, as Covid relief package after the first lockdown on March 26, ,2020.

The study showed that in spite of implementation of IM-PDS and high levels of Aadhaar and mobile number seeding with ration cards, portability even among intra-state migrants was quite low.

“Keeping aside those who do not desire PDS at their destination, nearly 45 per cent of them do not avail PDS at their destination despite wanting it,” the study showed. It also found that among intra-state migrants having access to PDS, uptake of portability is the highest in Kerala, followed by UP.  

Among other schemes, the study found that in PMJDY, the operation of accounts from any other branch is more prevalent among migrant (71 per cent) and non-migrant (75 per cent) households.

In the case of PMUY, the study showed that only a small proportion of the intra-state (7.6 per cent) and inter-state (3.6 per cent) migrants could access the scheme at their destination. Over 90 per cent of PMUY beneficiary households used such connections in source location.

The study also found that in the case of pension schemes, there was no portability at the application stage. Eligible persons had to apply at their place of domicile.

“More than 75 per cent of the migrants reported availing old-age pension at their home locations,” the study found.

BENEFITS GALORE

• Greater proportion of intra-state migrants are exploring portability than inter-state migrants
• In Ujjawala, almost 90 per cent of beneficiaries availed the scheme at their source locations
• Pension schemes have very low portability
• 71 per cent migrants operated Jandhan accounts from other branches