PUDUCHERRY: Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh, on Monday, expressed confidence that the issue of biometric Public Distribution System (PDS) smart cards would ensure that the benefits of PDS reach the true beneficiaries and address the critical issue of errors in inclusion, bogus cards, diversion and leakages, stock management, effective monitoring and timely distribution.
He was speaking at a function organised to launch the issuing of smart cards here on Monday.
The issuance of the cards is a step in the right direction to improve the delivery mechanism to make PDS efficient and transparent, he said.
This dedicated and fool- proof mechanism will make a marked improvement in the delivery mechanisms and achieve the objective of the flagship PDS system considerably bringing down the poverty levels, the LG said.
Pointing out that the PDS, institutionalised in the sixties, had emerged as the largest and most significant network catering to the food requirements of the poor and the needy, he said “though our social sector spending is higher than many other developing countries, we are unable to achieve the desired results.”
He said the programme, wherein government incurred a huge subsidy, is also falling short of the objective in the absence of foolproof delivery mechanism.
The primary causes of leakage and diversion in PDS were errors in inclusion wherein non-eligible beneficiaries are incorporated under Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, he said.
This resulted in subsidy diversion to non-eligible beneficiaries and low off-take of food grains from fair price shops which in turn got diverted to open market, he added.
Iqbal Singh said another reason was bogus ration cards in the names of fictitious families, which accounted for an estimated 16.67 per cent of leakages, according to Performance Education of Targeted PDS report prepared by Planning Commission.
To wipe out the deficiencies in the existing PDS, state government has digitised the data of ration card holders as per national standards, he said, and added that the introduction of smart cards would ensure systematic distribution of food rationing by gathering biometric, demographic and beneficiary information details.
The LG said he was happy to note that the enrolment in Puducherry and Mahe regions had been completed and the enrolment in Karaikal and Yanam region would commence shortly.
Expressing confidence that the project would be completed as planned within the scheduled time-frame, Iqbal Singh said the project for PDS would be a forerunner and pave way for implementation of smart card in a host of socio-economic schemes.
