STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: With the initiation of the process of linking ration cards with Aadhaar and biometric authentication, almost 1 lakh ineligible beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS) have been identified and weeded out. The Food and Civil Supplies department officials have expressed hope that once the whole process of linking ration cards with Aadhaar is complete, names of another 2-3 lakh ineligible beneficiaries will be automatically omitted.
Sources said that under the 'One Nation One Ration Card' (ONORC) system, Aadhaar-linked electronic point of sale (e-POS) devices have been installed in fair price shops (FPS) to check pilferage in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and also to keep a tab on fake beneficiaries. In Assam, there are 33,987 fair price shops. Out of these, e-POS devices have been installed in around 15,000 fair price shops and by February, the devices will be installed in the remaining fair price shops. After the installation of e-POS devices in 15,000 fair price shops, around 1 lakh ineligible beneficiaries have been weeded out.
The e-POS devices have a biometric system. Under ONORC, beneficiaries have to link their ration card with their Aadhaar and the verification is done through biometric authentication. In Assam, there are 2.51 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Sources said that after the process to link ration card with Aadhaar started, the number of beneficiaries decreased to 2.50 crore as 1 lakh ineligible/fake beneficiaries were deleted.
Before introducing the One Nation One Ration Card system, ration cardholders could buy subsidized food grains only from the FPS in their locality. But now, NFSA beneficiaries/ration cardholders can buy the subsidized food grains from any FPS across the country.
Earlier, FPS did not keep proper records of what PDS items and what quantities of the items were being given to the beneficiaries. As a result, there was a possibility of fair price shop owners selling the PDS items at higher prices to others. However, with the installation of the e-POS devices in fair price shops, pilferage in PDS can be checked as there is a record of the subsidized items the beneficiaries are getting. There is now transparency in PDS.
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