The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Monday announced a revamped system for distribution of rations, including an e-point of sale (POS) system and portability that allows beneficiaries to buy from any fair price shop.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain said that starting Monday, all 2,254 fair price shops had been given e-POS devices, which were integrated with electronic weighing machines to make sure the rations given to beneficiaries was of correct weight.
The new system would also include verification through Aadhaar authentication as well as online monitoring of transactions. The Minister said that trial of the e-POS machines would be done in January, with a complete rollout planned for February.
E-POS devices
The government had decided in August 2017 to install e-POS devices, for which a memorandum of understanding was signed with Bharat Electronics Ltd., a public sector undertaking. The system would help differently-abled beneficiaries, who would be able to nominate a person to draw rations on their behalf after verification.
The new system will also allow portability so beneficiaries can buy rations from any of the fair price shops, after biometric verification. Mr. Hussain also said that the government had proposed to increase the margin given to fair-price shop owners from ₹70 per quintal to ₹200 per quintal. “The long-pending demand of shop owners was under “active consideration”, he said.
