Ration portability introduced by the Civil Supplies Department in Greater Hyderabad has received good response from the public with over 1.35 lakh transactions since its launch on June 1.
On an average, over 20% of the total transactions are through ration portability, according to the department.
Ration portability option, which enables the consumer to obtain monthly ration from any fair price shop (FPS) across Greater Hyderabad, irrespective of the place of residence, was introduced in all the 1,545 shops in the city on an experimental basis from June 1.
Use of biometrics
The ration portability was made possible through the introduction of ePOS system in all the FP shops, and use of biometrics and Aadhaar for establishment of the beneficiary’s identity.
Charminar circle with 17,682 has the largest number of transactions through the portability option, followed by Khairatabad at 14,505. The fair price shops in Charminar and Malakpet circles have recorded 25% of their total transactions through portability.
Beneficiaries who have shifted residence, and those who had earlier been put to inconvenience due to the distances they had to travel to reach the designated FPS are the ones to benefit the most from the portability option.
Vacant dealerships
Owing to cases, suspensions, death of dealers, leaves and resignations, a total of 265 shops are vacant in the Greater Hyderabad region.
Transferring the list of beneficiaries of FP shops that have shut down to the dealers in the adjoining areas have created problems for the beneficiaries, who had to wait in long queues. Portability option has addressed this problem too, say Civil Supplies officials.
Weeding out
Ration portability was introduced to checkmate the unscrupulous FPS dealers, said Commissioner Civil Supplies C.V.Anand.
“Through this measure we have aimed to weed out the benami dealers, who run the shop through others, and are not interested in providing service to the consumers. Portability option requires that all the ration shops in the State work at the same time, so only dealers who need the shop for survival will remain in business,” said Mr.Anand.
It has been made mandatory for the dealers to keep the shop open from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
Additional stock
To enable the dealers to supply efficiently, the department is maintaining 10 to 15 % additional stocks with each shop.
Through online monitoring, the stocks will be replenished as and when required, Mr.Anand explained.
Replicated soon
The measure will be replicated throughout the state, once the ePOS system is introduced and streamlined in all districts, he said.
From July 1, the department is mulling over introducing the system in 2000 more FP shops in Mahabubnagar, Medchal, Ranga Reddy and Vikarabad districts.
All the 17,200 fair price shops across the State are likely to be covered by August, and one or two months later, the portability option will be launched for the whole State, he added.
