Published on Wednesday, 11 March 2015 09:51
The implementation of e-PDS initiative and National Food Security Act, 2013, has hit a roadblock as the civil supplies department has not yet made up its mind on ID systems to be used.
Despite the existence of Aadhaar card with identification number for Indian citizens, the state cabinet last month approved a proposal on creating a separate database registry to give a unique identification number to individual ration cardholders and link the same to different government-run schemes.
The proposal has put the civil supplies department in a quandary: it doesn’t know which ID system should be used for the e-PDS project and the NFSA.
Hence the April 1 deadline for implementing the NFSA Act will most probably be extended by a year, and the department is preparing a note to send it to the Centre.
The cabinet proposal, which has been forwarded to the Goa Electronic Limited, has come as a bolt from the blue for the civil supplies department, leaving officials flummoxed who are unsure of the approach to be adopted to resolve the issue.
“In Goa there is a huge influx of migrants who also have ration cards in their native states. If we go ahead with creating separate database with a new UID number then we are only inviting bogus ration cards in the state. We are shocked and puzzled with the cabinet proposal to have separate individual database to link it to state government schemes,” an official said.
Raising their eyebrows on the proposal, officials in the state administration pointed to the unavailability of required manpower, funds with the state and technology know-how for generating new and separate database for nearly 80 per cent of the state population.
The senior government officials said that there is no need of having separate database, as there is a clear central government guidelines on the e-PDS project framed by the minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution instructing all the states to link only Aadhaar card of BPL, APL and Antyodaya ration card holders which would be electronically validated by comparing with the database of Unique Identification Authority of India.
This linking will also assist in identifying NFSA beneficiaries.
The department had decided to begin with the process of computerization and digitization of existing ration cards for the state by February-end under the e-PDS project and also simultaneously initiate the process of screening and identification of NFSA beneficiaries by April 1.
On February 14, the cabinet gave its approval to the e-PDS project, seeking its implementation within ten months at the cost of Rs 9 crore. [NT]