WARANGAL/ADILABAD /KARIMNAGAR/KHAMMAM: Poor signal and technical glitches in fingerprint authentication process have been creating problems in the effective implementation of bio-metric system in several fair price shops, which are mainly situated in the remote areas of various districts in Northern Telangana.
The state government introduced electronic-Point of Sale (e-PoS) machine to check irregularities and black marketing, diversion of grains from the depot. But due to poor signals, it has become a bane for beneficiaries. Even if the signal is available, the entire process is taking a minimum of 20 minutes for each cardholder. The reason: the e-PoS machines are linked with an iris scanner, weighing scale and bio-metric Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS). Once the card holder’s thumb impression matches, the weighing machine automatically gets activated and ration is weighed and given to beneficiaries. However, due to poor signals it has become difficult to provide ration to beneficiaries. It is learnt that fair price shops having over 600 cardholders are able to provide ration to only about 20-30 beneficiaries per day due to poor signal.
Elderly persons—the most affected
Several ration card holders, particularly elderly persons with calloused palms, were finding it difficult to get through bio-metric authentication process. Recently, a 50-year-old woman, who went on the terrace of a building to give bio-metric for collecting ration, died after falling from the staircase in Gangapur village of Adilabad district. As the PoS machine was not receiving signals at the shop, the beneficiaries were asked to come on to the terrace of the building where the signal strength was better. She went to give her bio-metric, slipped from the staircase and died.
The situation in Agency areas is still worse. The tribal people are forced to wait for long hours to collect their grains from ration depots as the e-PoS machines have not been working due to non-availability of signals. In many Agency areas, the tribal people walk around five kilometre through the hilly areas and stay at ration shops till they receive the signal and complete the entire process.
Meanwhile, ration dealers claim that due to poor signals they have not been able to dispose ration to beneficiaries. “We are able to distribute hardly 50 percent of the ration every month as the PoS machines are not functioning properly. We want the government to resolve the issue, else it should allow manual disbursement where signals are unavailable,” said Telangana State Ration Dealers Welfare Association president Battula Ramesh Babu. However, civil supplies officials claimed that the problem was temporary.
Fast facts
In few interior Agency areas in Adilabad district, fair price shops’ owners climb on top of buildings and overhead tanks to get signals so as to collect thumb impression of beneficiaries
In interior areas of Kumrambheem, the POS machines do not work regularly. As a result, the beneficiaries face problems in collecting ration every month
100 out of 1,442 fair price shops are unable to dispose rations as signals are not available in the erstwhile united Adilabad district. In Kumrambheem, of the 275 ration shops, only 30 shops are not functioning as there is no signal in these areas.