Chennai: Ration cards in the state are all set to go fully digital with Chief Minister K. Edappadi Palanisami launching the smart family card scheme on Saturday to replace 1.89 crore cards in the state at a cost of Rs 330 crore.
The Chief Minister said that the state would complete the ambitious project within a span of two months. By the end of May, as many as 1.89 crore ration cards will be replaced with new smart cards and those who do not have smart cards can avail the ration, until the new ones are integrated with Aadhaar details are served to them.
Cardholders can get the smart cards at their PDS outlets after getting an SMS alert from authorities. A new database has been created and Aadhaar seeding has been done to more than 90 per cent of card holders.
“Of the 6.90 crore members with ration cards, Aadhaar details of about 5.85 crore persons have been integrated”, the Chief Minister said. Pointing out that the state started computerising PDS system in 2015, he recalled that the smart card scheme was announced by former chief minister late Jayalalithaa last year. Starting from the days of MGR, Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in food security and annually the state allocates '5,500 crore to ensure the smooth functioning of fair price shops, Palanisami added.
According to food department sources, the smart card scheme will prevent fake cards and duplication of names of members. Further, it will also prevent the bogus billing and corrupt practices among ration shop staff. Also, allocation of commodities to PDS outlets and real-time monitoring of movement of essential commodities from warehouses to outlets will be done. Applications for new cards, addition or deletion of members and change of address can be done online, sources added.
