VIJAYAWADA: Pitching for a technology-driven public distribution system (PDS), Minister for civil supplies Prathipati Pulla Rao said, “Latest technology will help bring in transparency in PDS, where every eligible family would have the government benefits.” Rao was speaking during a national conference on PDS organised here on Monday.Addressing the gathering, he further said that the State government is coming up with a new initiative of village malls, where people can collect monthly ration and also shop for their needs at affordable prices.
“With the driving force of CM Chandrababu Naidu, technology has developed a lot and now we are utilising it for a better administration through transparency. Similarly, in public distribution system, the technology between ration shops and ration card holders would be much more developed to avoid the irregularities. As of now, the State government spent Rs 169 crore alone for the sake of technology like biometrics, PoS machine etc.”He further said that by utilising technology, the State government saved over Rs 1,500 crore, which usually gets misused with fake accounts and readings.
“About 13 percent of the ration material has been saved. In the November alone, from all the 13 districts of the State, a total of Rs 78 crore had been saved. No eligible member would go without ration. Similarly, no unauthorised person would receive ration.” he added. As part of the event, the minister added that the village malls would be launched on December 12 of this year across the State.
Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will collectively launch the village malls. In 10 districts, the state government has tied up with Reliance and in other three districts, it tied up with the Future Group. In these village malls, the essential items would be given at a discount of 20 percent.