CHENNAI: The TVK government’s vision for the Public Distribution System (PDS) is to gradually transition from the traditional collection of essential commodities from ration shops to direct doorstep delivery for consumers. Though the shift may not happen immediately, the government plans to modernise the PDS over the next five years to achieve this goal, said Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P Venkataramanan.
Speaking to TNIE, Venkataramanan recalled the announcement made by TVK president and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay that the ultimate objective is to enhance consumer convenience and food security by delivering subsidised rice, pulses and other PDS commodities directly to beneficiaries’ homes.
“Today, consumers book LPG cylinders through mobile phones and receive doorstep delivery. We are planning to implement a similar system for PDS commodities as well. The government will work towards achieving this goal over the next five years,” said Venkataramanan.
He said the ongoing digitisation of ration shops including linking Point-of-Sale (PoS) devices with weighing scales, biometric authentication for beneficiaries, and sending transaction details through SMS alerts to consumers’ mobile phones has significantly reduced leakages in the system.He added that ensuring transparency, preventing leakages and maintaining uninterrupted supply of food commodities remain the government’s key objectives.
Currently, under the Chief Minister’s Thayumanavar Scheme launched in August last year, PDS commodities are being delivered at home to senior citizens above 65 years of age and persons with disabilities. Out of the total 2.28 crore ration cards covering 7.01 crore people, around 21.7 lakh beneficiaries enrolled in 16.73 lakh ration cards are covered under the Thayumanavar scheme.
The state government allocates an average of Rs 17,500 crore annually for the Food Department including a food subsidy of Rs 14,300 crore. The subsidy for the supply of tur dal, cooking oil and sugar to all ration cardholders under the special public distribution system is fully borne by the state
Fact file
Elderly persons above 65 years of age & persons with disabilities receive doorstep delivery of PDS commodities under Thayumanavar scheme
About 21.42 lakh beneficiaries covered under 16.73 lakh ration cards are enrolled in the scheme
This includes 15.81 lakh ration cards issued to families with elderly members and 1.27 lakh ration cards issued to PwDs