THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Civil Supplies Department plans to extend the e-ration card programme to the entire state by April. The pilot phase of the project was launched in the North City Rationing Office in Thiruvananthapuram on February 12. The programme is to give downloadable ration cards to applicants. The electronic card is handy, just one page, and can be downloaded in landscape or portrait formats. Beneficiaries can laminate them. The landscape version will be a bit large in size and would be convenient for senior citizens.
In the first phase, that is when the project is extended to the whole of the state, e-cards will be given to applicants for new ration cards. At present, all ration card applications have to be submitted online.
Either the beneficiary can submit the application through the citizen login on the department website or through Akshaya centres. The application fees can be paid through the government’s e-treasury portal. The sanctioned cards can be downloaded through the same logins.
The department is also planning to convert all conventional book cards to e-cards in phases. The technical support is provided by the National Informatics Centre. Unlike the conventional card, e-card does not have a provision for ration shop dealers to mark the monthly purchase of goods. Officers said the marking has become irrelevant after the implementation of Aadhaar-linked biometric punching.