Sukhdeep Kaur
Posted: Mon Feb 07 2011, 04:16 hrs
Chandigarh:
Chandigarh:
As the murder of Malegaon additional collector Yashwant Sonawane, allegedly by the oil mafia, once again highlights the illegal diversion of public distribution system (PDS) kerosene to the open market and industrial units, Punjab seems to have found its answer in Nandan Nilekani’s UID scheme, Adhaar.
This March, as the state begins an enrollment drive to give its estimated 2.8 crore population a unique 12-digit identity, the number will also provide the government a weapon to take on the powerful kerosene and LPG syndicate.
Other than feeding the biometrics of residents into the UID server, the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department — the nodal agency implementing the scheme — will put details of ration cards and LPG connection in the mandatory information list in the know your resident (KYR) form, making Punjab’s own version — KYR+.
“The KYR+ form will make it mandatory that along with his biometrics — photograph of face, fingerprints and Iris scan — the resident fills in details about whether he or she is a beneficiary for PDS, their entitlement and whether they have one or more LPG gas connection,” says UID registrar of Punjab, Alaknanda Dayal.
This March, as the state begins an enrollment drive to give its estimated 2.8 crore population a unique 12-digit identity, the number will also provide the government a weapon to take on the powerful kerosene and LPG syndicate.
Other than feeding the biometrics of residents into the UID server, the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department — the nodal agency implementing the scheme — will put details of ration cards and LPG connection in the mandatory information list in the know your resident (KYR) form, making Punjab’s own version — KYR+.
“The KYR+ form will make it mandatory that along with his biometrics — photograph of face, fingerprints and Iris scan — the resident fills in details about whether he or she is a beneficiary for PDS, their entitlement and whether they have one or more LPG gas connection,” says UID registrar of Punjab, Alaknanda Dayal.
“Once the UIDAI issues the unique identity number, they will become our new database of those who have to be given subsidised foodgrains, kerosene and LPG. We will not only be able to weed out fake and duplicate beneficiaries but also ensure that no depot holder — Punjab has 14,759 ration depots — can divert the same,” said Dayal, who is also director, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department.
To ensure that distributors issue kerosene and other items only to the actual beneficiary, each depot will be provided an authentication device to log on to the UIDAI server and confirm the biometrics.
“Usually, the quota is diverted to industrial units or diesel pumpsets in farms. By defining the beneficiary through his unique number, we will ensure only the person whose biometrics have been fed into the system can avail of the item. Depots cannot make fake entries,” said Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon.
Not surprisingly, the main slogan for the UID publicity campaign in the state says, “Ration lene ho javega asaan, jido hovega adhaar pehchan (it will be easier to get rations, once you have an Adhaar identity).
To ensure that distributors issue kerosene and other items only to the actual beneficiary, each depot will be provided an authentication device to log on to the UIDAI server and confirm the biometrics.
“Usually, the quota is diverted to industrial units or diesel pumpsets in farms. By defining the beneficiary through his unique number, we will ensure only the person whose biometrics have been fed into the system can avail of the item. Depots cannot make fake entries,” said Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon.
Not surprisingly, the main slogan for the UID publicity campaign in the state says, “Ration lene ho javega asaan, jido hovega adhaar pehchan (it will be easier to get rations, once you have an Adhaar identity).