Modi govt integrating poverty alleviation schemes with technology: Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday welcomed the second phase of SARTHAK-PDS' scheme and said the Modi government is integrating poverty alleviation schemes with technology to make them more transparent and convenient.

Shah said the Union Cabinet has approved Rs 25,530 crore for SARTHAK-PDS Phase-2 on Wednesday.

In a post on X, he said that through high-tech systems such as Al-enabled beneficiary registry creation, GPS tracking and QR code tagging, 100 per cent benefits of affordable grains and other schemes will be delivered to the poor.

"Additionally, provisions have been made to provide economic support for the increasing logistic costs of states and to increase the remuneration of ration shops," he said.

"The Modi government is equipping poverty alleviation schemes with technology to make them more transparent and convenient," Shah posted on X.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the five-year extension of the 'SARTHAK-PDS' scheme with a Rs 25,530 crore outlay through March 2031, aiming to overhaul the public distribution infrastructure through technology-led reforms.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also cleared a revision to the norms governing central assistance to states and Union territories for intra-state movement and handling of food grains, as well as fair price shop (FPS) dealers' margins, while retaining the existing funding pattern.

SARTHAK-PDS merges two existing programmes assistance for intra-state food grain movement and FPS dealer margins under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), and the SMART-PDS modernisation scheme into a unified framework aimed at strengthening last-mile delivery and curbing leakages.