Kerala CM inaugurates Rs. 475 crore PDS digitisation project

THIRUVANTHAPURAM, INDIA: Chief Minister of Kerala, Oomen Chandy will inaugurate the pilot phase of an end-to-end computerisation programme of the public distribution system (PDS) in Kerala on May 14. The project is worth Rs.475-crore and has been rolled out by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies.

This project is aimed at creating and managing a digitised beneficiary database and supply chain management from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown to fair price shops. The digitisation project will also keep a track of the sale of commodities at the outlets and grievance redressal mechanism.

"The pilot phase would involve computerisation of four fair price shops and corresponding wholesale depots, one city rationing office, one taluk supply office, district supply office, and the Directorate of Civil Supplies," a Hindu Report quoted Minister for Food, Anoop Jacob as saying.

The implementation of this project will enable electronic stock-keeping. It will also help in the maintenance and generation of required information on allocation, lifting, stock position, and sale or release of stock.

"Ration depots would receive SMS alerts on the arrival of stock, while electronic kiosks at taluk headquarters would disseminate information on arrival of stock at wholesale depots," said Jacob. A toll free helpline number and call centre will be set up for grievance redressal.

Apart from that, an intelligent lifting system will be equipped in the FCI godowns. This system will give information on stocks. Global positioning system (GPS) equipment will be fitted in colour coded trucks that would be used to transport the stocks while keeping track of their movement.

Over the three phases of the pilot project, all the fair price shops, wholesale depots, district supply offices, taluk supply offices, city rationing offices and the Directorate of Civil Supplies will be integrated in a single network.

The Department of Food and Civil Supplies will also roll out an Aadhaar-enabled biometric system for targeted delivery of ration to eligible beneficiaries.

As per Anoop Jacob, the programme is expected to be completed in 18 months through an integrated approach involving the IT Mission, National Informatics Centre, Aadhaar, Akshaya, and Kerala Spatial Data Infrastructure.