Telangana State set to automate ration shops

Fair Price Shops are proposed to be fully automated with ePOS (electronic point of sale) machines in the State.  

Apart from it, plans are also afoot to install CCTVs in warehouses as the government looks to improve the public distribution system.

The state's Civil Supplies Department has floated a tender for selection of system integrator for implementing Aadhaar- enabled PDS in the State, which has a total of 17,200 Fair Price Shops (FPS)

Commissioner of Civil Supplies, C V Anand said on Tuesday the vendor, who would implement the project on a Build-Own-Operate mode, is expected to be finalised next month, and added that the automation is proposed to be completed by February. As of now, FPS level transactions are being conducted manually, except in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, officials said.

style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"CCTVs are being planned in each of the 171 warehouses (mandal-level stock points), and have them connected to Joint Collector's and the Commissioner's offices," Anand said, adding that a project report in this regard is being prepared.

All civil supplies transport vehicles are being monitored through GPS at the head office, he said. The department has also planned to send bulk SMS to FPS dealers and ration card-holders on availability and movement of stocks.

A WhatsApp number would be soon be made available to the public through which they can lodge complaints. This is in addition to other complaint channels, Anand said.

"Telangana is one of the few States where 100 per cent Aadhaar seeding had been done for the ration cards. We are in a very good position to leverage the benefits of e-POS machines and Aadhaar-based transactions. There are a total of 2.75 crore PDS beneficiaries in the State," he said.