The State Government implemented smart cards in lieu of printed ration cards after linking the Aadhaar and mobile phone numbers of the beneficiaries.
In Coimbatore district, covering 11 taluks, the number of total card holders is 9,93,183, benefiting 30,94,604 people. Of this, 8,17,740 cards were printed and 6,80,674 were distributed.
Family cards linked with Aadhaar are 29,47,037 and with mobile numbers are 9,70,227.
Initially, the beneficiaries were allowed to access the website (www.tnpds.com) to upload the family details and photo of the head of the family.
After few mischievous instances of uploading photos of celebrities, Hindu Gods, the authorities stopped the facility.
Cardholders were asked to submit photo to the salesmen concerned at the ration shops. However, the beneficiaries are allowed to feed or correct other details on the website.
Officials say that despite these measures 37,095 card holders are yet to submit their passport sized photos.
Apart from this, the officials have so far corrected junk data (placed under wrong heading or incorrect information) for 23,375 beneficiaries. Another 20,371 junks are yet to be corrected at the taluk level, an official said.
There is no provision in the software to indicate the correction that needs to be done or the data to be added. Hence, the beneficiaries are unable to track the progress of the smart card application. If the card holder is yet to get the smart card, the reasons for the same should automatically be informed over SMS, for this the software should be upgraded, say beneficiaries.
Website: www.tnpds.com
Toll Free No: 1967 or 1800 - 425 – 5901
Contact points: taluk office, PDS outlets.
