Image for representational purposes.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Soon, the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the state may undergo a smart revamp with the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department planning to introduce an integrated app-based management system.
Once the system is in place, a handheld electronic point of sale (ePoS) machine which is integrated with a mobile application and government database will completely verify the Aadhaar information of the beneficiary, record the weight of the foodgrain distributed and update it to the central server for real time monitoring. This, the officials said, will prevent fraud, leakage, and improve transparency.
“This solution provides retailers, wholesalers, and field operators with a single handheld device to manage sales, billing, inventory, weighing, and digital payments efficiently. It is a technology oriented smart update to the system. It will help prevent leakages and frauds and also keep a check on the shopkeepers at the fair price shops,” a senior official from the department said.
The ePoS machine will be linked to the electronic weighing machine ensuring that beneficiaries get the exact quantity of ration they are eligible for. That apart, the complete integration will also help the beneficiaries collect the ration from any fair price shop since the system is centralised. This, sources said, will help keep a check on shopkeepers at the fair price shops who do not behave well with the people or provide poor service.
A research on the impact of use of such technology driven measures in other states has shown a clear uptake in the number of beneficiaries since the process is now easier and consumer friendly.
Pilot rollout at 290 FPSs
In Karnataka, a pilot project will soon take off from 290 fair price shops in Bengaluru East and Bengaluru North IRAs (Informal Rationing Areas). “We have invited tenders to put the system in place on a pilot basis. Once it’s successful, we will eventually expand the system to cover all the fair price shops in the state,” the official added.
The initiative is a part of the smart PDS system which is aimed at modernising the PDS with technology driven initiatives. The initiative is going on from April 2023 and the Central government has directed all the states to implement a comprehensive smart PDS system within March 2026.
As part of the initiative, Karnataka is looking at an end-to-end technology driven solution. From GPS tracking systems for the trucks that carry the food grains to an integrated command centre, a number of other initiatives are also being planned.