Mobile message to alert ration stock arrival:In Madhya Pradesh, ration will be given through face verification; carrying Aadhaar card will be mandatory, know the full process

Long queues at ration shops, repeated visits and complaints of getting less grain may soon end for about 5.5 crore people in Madhya Pradesh. After nearly ten years, the state government is preparing to change the Public Distribution System (PDS). Under the new system, technology will be used to fix loopholes through which the ration meant for the poor was often stolen or wasted. The aim is to make the process easier, faster and more transparent for beneficiaries. With the changes, elderly people will no longer face problems due to faded fingerprints. Daily wage workers will also not have to skip work to check whether ration has reached the shop. Once a ration truck unloads grain at a fair price shop, an SMS alert will be sent to the registered mobile numbers of beneficiary families. People will be able to collect their full ration by face recognition at the shop. Dainik Bhaskar has tried to understand how this new system will work and how it is expected to directly impact the lives of crores of people across the state. Fingerprint hassle over, face will become identity
When the biometric system was implemented in the state in 2015, it was considered a major reform. The system of proving identity by scanning fingerprints on Point of Sale (POS) machines largely curbed fraud, but this system had its own limitations. The lines on the hands and fingerprints of many elderly people, farmers, and hardworking laborers wear out, due to which the machine could not recognize them. In such cases, they had to wander from door to door to get rations or go through some other process. To eradicate this problem, the Food and Civil Supplies Department is now adopting face recognition technology. Now, a camera will be attached to the POS machine, which will scan the beneficiary’s face and instantly confirm their identity by matching it with the Aadhaar database. This will not only speed up the process but will also bring great relief to those who were troubled due to fingerprint mismatch. Know how this system will work? This change is not limited to the method of identification; rather, it will keep a complete record of the grain reaching from the warehouse to the beneficiary’s home. Every family will receive an SMS when ration arrives: This is the biggest and most direct benefit of this new system. Until now, people had to make several trips to find out whether ration had arrived at the shop or not. Now, as soon as the shop’s stock is updated online, an automated SMS will immediately reach the registered mobile numbers of all beneficiary families linked to that shop. Computerized scales, complaints of under-weighing will end: The weighing machines installed at ration shops will be directly connected to computers and POS machines. As soon as the shopkeeper weighs the grain for you, its quantity will automatically be entered into the computer and that much quantity will be deducted from the shop’s total stock. This way, the shopkeeper will not be able to give you less ration even if they want to.
SMS and Confirmed Receipt Immediately After Receiving Ration: As soon as your ration is weighed and you receive it, another SMS will immediately arrive on your mobile. This message will clearly state how much wheat, how much rice, and which other grains have been given to you, and in what quantity. Along with the SMS, a printed slip will also be issued from the POS machine, which will be given to you. This dual confirmation will ensure that no fraud occurs with you. Madhya Pradesh will become the country’s first state In the process of implementing this entire system, Madhya Pradesh has surpassed other states in the country. Food and Civil Supplies Commissioner, Karmveer Sharma, states that the central government had issued new guidelines a few months ago to modernise ration distribution across the country. We were already in the tender process, so we immediately incorporated these new instructions into our plan. We have decided to adopt not just POS machines, but also the entire system of face recognition, computer-operated weighing machines, and bulk SMS simultaneously. Our command center is fully prepared.