Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Smart ration cards scheme in limbo

By C. Maya

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 16. A pilot project being implemented by the State Civil Supplies Department to issue Smart Cards instead of the conventional ration cards in four wards in the city may go awry for reasons that have little to do with technology, but everything to do with changing consumer preferences.

Six months ago, Kerala became the first State in the country to introduce the concept of smart cards in the public distribution system (PDS), when as part of the pilot project, 2,000 families attached to four ration shops in Chackai, Vanchiyoor, Valiathura and Ambalathara wards were issued `smart cards' in January.

The Government was eager to see whether the technology worked, so that it could be extended to all ration shops across the State. While the technology has been found to be working smoothly, the authorities have second thoughts about implementing it as consumers are moving away from the PDS fold.

The Civil Supplies Department is now mulling over whether it is really necessary to spend Rs. 40 crores and convert the 65-lakh ration cards in the State to smart cards, when there are fewer people visiting ration shops today.

Says M. Shivasanker, Director of Civil Supplies, "Our primary aim was to create an electronic database and see if such a technology could be utilised to make ration shops function more efficiently. But today, when people are moving away from the PDS, it would be pointless to invest so much money in introducing smart cards.''

The smart card has an electronic chip containing the consolidated data base of a family, including the weekly entitlements allowed to each member. This would help check manipulations in the rationing system as it would not be possible to sell any quantity of ration without swiping the card, which automatically generates a bill too.

However, authorities are worried that smart cards may be irrelevant in the current PDS system, which serves just about eight-lakh people below the poverty line.

The department has, after a protracted battle with the Food Corporation of India, extracted a promise that rice stocks more than two years old will not be issued to wholesale ration dealers.

Yet, the offtake of rice even in the below-poverty-line (BPL) category is just about 80 per cent, while in the above- poverty-line (APL) category, the offtake is almost nil. Last month, the offtake of rice in the APL category was just 918 tonnes against an allotment of about 1.5 lakh tonnes.

Another curious phenomenon that the department has identified is that many people still do not know that rice is available at Rs. 6-20 and Rs. 7-90.

``Never before had the need been felt for a communication strategy to reach the benefits of PDS to the public. We are at a loss how to tackle this problem,'' Mr. Shivasankar says.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• CM to supervise capital city development
• Smart ration cards scheme in limbo
• Sewerage for major areas in capital
• Panel formed
• Irregularities in fund utilisation: panel
• `Don't disconnect water supply'
• `IT Kerala' expo to be a big draw

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu