Govt expedites process to install point of sale devices

After several recent raids exposed a huge number of fair price shops indulging in pilferage of food grains meant for poor people, the department of food and civil supplies of Delhi government has expedited the installation of point of sale devices at all the 2,772 fair price shops in the city.

In one of the biggest crackdown on pilferage of food grains in public distribution system (PDS) during May alone, the department raided 209 fair prices shops out of which 31 were sealed for pilferage. The department also lodged 30 FIRs against shopkeepers and sealed three flour mills which were found involved in the racket.

‘The point of sale were introduced at four fair price shops on pilot project basis and are very successful. A proposal to replicate them at all the FPS has been sent to the IT department for final technical comment after which tenders will be floated,’ said SS Yadav, principal secretary-cum commissioner of Food and Civil Supplies department of Delhi government. The hand-held device stores data of all the ration card beneficiaries in the jurisdiction of the concerned FPS and their biometric records. The machines are connected with GPRS, biometric machine and printer which can be accessed from the head office of the department. 

‘A person can get his allocated share of ration only after the biometric system of the device recognises him. The biometric records of first timers could be stored in the first visit,’ informed Yadav. He further said that the devices would be linked to Aadhar Cards but alternative methods are also available in the machines for on the spot recording of the biometric data. If the machine fails to recognise the biometric data it would send one time password on the registered mobile number of the card holder to facilitate his allocated ration.

The entire cost of the project, around Rs 8 crore, will be borne by Delhi government. A server has already been installed at the head office of the department to monitor the devices, centrally.

‘The device would also be helpful in curbing the menace of fake ration cards,’ added Yadav. Currently, Delhi has around 17 lakh families holding ration cards against a maximum limit of 73 lakh families under the National Food Security Act. At present, paper ration cards are used for eligible families and wheat, rice, sugar are offered on subsidised prices. Kerosene has been almost banned in Delhi and small LPG cylinders were proposed to replace it. The project for automation and computerisation of PDS system in Delhi was proposed by Wadhwa Committee in 2007 which was constituted on direction of Supreme Court.