E Governance (PDS)

Introduction

Public distribution system (PDS) in India is one of the largest welfare initiatives in the world. It represents the direct intervention of the Indian state in the food market to ensure food security. PDS serves a dual purpose of providing subsidized food to the consumers as well as providing price support to the farmers. The objective of PDS and the grain procurement policy of the government is to achieve the twin goals of price stability of food grains, which is expected to contribute to macro-economic stability and to create demand for food grains resulting from food subsidies leading to multiplier effects, raising the overall growth of the economy.

A network of more than 400,000 Fair Price Shops (FPS, also ration shops), the PDS in India distributes commodities worth more than Rs. 15,000 crore to about 16 crore families each year.

Situation Analysis

Over the decades the functioning of the government PDS in India has suffered due to inefficient management and lack of proper targeting to improve the food security of the poor. Although, India has achieved self-sufficiency in food grain production and surplus food stocks are available in the FCI warehouses across the country, the poor have little access to food as they lack purchasing power. This paradox of surplus food availability in the market and chronic hunger of the poor has brought into sharp focus the lopsided policies of the government with regard to food distribution in the country.

The prime objective of PDS is to ensure that the beneficiaries are provided with essential commodities such as rice, wheat etc. as per entitlements and at affordable time in correct measures. Though it has been in operation for four decades, the access of the poor to PDS is still very limited. The doubts have been raised about the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the PDS, especially in the light of the growing food subsidy and food stocks.

• 22 percent of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families who have been issued ration cards cannot be traced.
• Less than entitled quantity is given.
• More than the prescribed rates are charged.
• Repeated visits to the FPS (ration shop) to check whether the ration is available or not.
• Allocated ration is siphoned off by making false entries in the records.

High Level Solution

Government provides handheld terminals with connectivity to the central server at all locations - right from the warehouse (godown) to the ration shops. Commodities are tracked at each point and tallied with the procurement and lifting.

On the other hand, smartcards issued to the families replace the existing 'Ration Cards'. The PDS central server provides update on stock, retailer, beneficiary, and entitlement details.

The smartcard identifying each family is introduced to eliminate prevailing fake ration cards. This overhauls the entire operations of the Public Distribution System.

Work Flow

• Beneficiary brings the relevant smart card based ration card to dealer.
• Biometric fingerprint authentication is done using handheld terminal.
• Dealer scans the barcode on ration card and gets the status of his quota.
• If eligible, dealer issues the ration to beneficiary and hands over receipt generated using in-built printer in handheld terminal.
• Two receipts are generated: one for beneficiary and another for dealer.
• The transaction details are stored in handheld terminal and smart card.
• Data is uploaded from handheld terminal to central server in ONLINE mode through GSM/GPRS, CDMA, or PSTN mode of communication or in OFFLINE mode using USB drive.
• Reports at various levels are generated.

Bottom Line

VISIONTEK POS based new Public Distribution System identifies and plugs the loopholes and the leakages in the present distribution network; and also create an environment of accountability at each level.

Case Study

Public Distribution System Automation
An Indian state government was looking for solution to overhaul more

The system will track and record all transactions with a view to:

• Centralized verification of all ration cards presented for purchase.
• Centralized recording of all sales made at each FPS.
• Validation of demand for purchase made by each card holder w.r.t. his quota.
• Computation of actual consumption at each FPS.
• Daily declaration of opening and closing stocks at each FPS on Handheld Terminal.
• Assessment of replenishment requirements in respect of all commodities at each FPS.
• Tracking of stocks available at central level by recording all procurement and consumption.
• Stock valuation at central level.
• Generation of requisite MIS Reports.

The VISIONTEK Advantage

• Availability of units and spares in Indian Rupees
• Enhanced transparency and accountability
• Increased operational efficiency
• Instant server update and receipt printing
• Minimize administrative and transaction cost
• Productivity enhancement of staff
• Prompt service across Linkwell Service Centers
• Proven, secure, and scalable solution
• Real time inventory management
• Reduced book record keeping
• Reduce fraud
• Secure transactions using biometric authentication
• Transactions updated in real time on central server
• Updated customer data at central server

Related product-94 POS

VISIONTEK 94 POS terminal with in-built finger print scanner is specially designed to address NREGA, Microfinance and PDS Segments with biometric authentication for beneficiary transactions.  more