Karnataka's tribal welfare dept plans biometric verification for distribution of nutrition kits

Bengaluru: The Department of Tribal Welfare is planning an overhaul of the nutrition food kit distribution system for nearly 47,859 tribal families across the state. This initiative aims to ensure the timely delivery of food kits and address quality concerns.

The department plans to implement several measures, including Aadhaar-linked biometric verification and pre-checks of the supplied food items, to streamline the process.

Over the years, complaints have emerged that many tribal communities do not receive food kits on time, while others receive poor-quality kits, undermining the purpose of the program.

“The Public Distribution System (PDS) across the state uses biometric verification, and we have decided to follow the same approach for distributing nutrition food kits to tribal families,” Randeep, secretary to the Department of Tribal Welfare, said.

“Although it is not mandatory at this stage, we eventually want to ensure that all tribal families have their Aadhaar linked, and the distribution is carried out through biometric verification. This will enhance transparency and accountability,” he said. 

District-level officers have also been instructed to verify the quality of the food items before distributing them, ensuring that no substandard kits are handed out.

Many tribal communities had also reported that they had not received food kits for months. Randeep assured that all pending kits would be distributed soon. Moving forward, district officials will be required to ensure that the kits are distributed by the 15th of every month.

“District officers are now required to submit an indent, after a quick verification of the number of tribal families in their districts, by the 5th of each month. Based on this, distribution will take place by the 15th,” Randeep
added.

In the past, food kits were procured through a decentralised process. To ensure consistent and timely distribution, the department has now shifted to a centralised procurement and distribution system.

Randeep confirmed that all pending kits would soon reach the tribal families.