The Tripura government has introduced portability for drawing ration by the beneficiaries from the month of December.
According to the current system, the ration beneficiaries can visit any fair price shop with their ration cards and Aadhar numbers to draw the commodities they require.
A media report quoted additional secretary, food and civil supplies department, Dhirendra Debbarma as saying: “What this will entail is thumb impression on point of sale machine installed in all ration shops in lieu of due payments.”
The new system will enable the consumers having ration cards to draw rice, sugar, pulses and salt from any ration shop by telling their ration card and Aadhar card number and also by giving thumb impression on POS machines.
It has been reported that if the consumers face any problem in drawing ration they can contact the SDM or food inspector concerned and can file complaint, if any, through the toll free numbers – 1967 or 1800-345-3665.
Also read: Tripura adds pulses in PDS, 2.81 lakh names deducted by ration cards linking to Aadhaar
Tripura currently has a total of 1,810 ration shops, out of which 392 come under the Agartala Municipal Corporation areas.
A media report quoted a senior official as saying: “After the BJP-IPFT government was formed, emphasis was on ensuring transparency in PDS.”
“Accordingly, rationing system was digitalized so that only genuine consumers can avail the benefits. In the process, more than 66,000 ration cards were found fake and subsequently cancelled,” he added.
The government has also emphasized on maintaining adequate stock of food items and ensuring timely supply to ration shops.
The food and civil supplies department, according to reports, has geared up to make trouble-free paddy procurement by the FCI in the coming harvesting season.
The FCI, for the first time, would procure 50,000 MT paddy from the farmers directly at a MSP of Rs 1,850 per quintal.