The Ministry of consumer affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 14 March 2018 released a press release stating that in the light of National Security Act,2013 (which aims at providing subsidized food grains to the poor and weaker section of the society) all the departments in different states and Union Territories are implementing the installation of Electronic Point of Sale (e-POS) devices. The device is used for biometric authentication of the beneficiaries and ensure that subsidized food grains does not goes into the hands of ghosts and the rightful audience receives it. Along with this even the sales of subsidized food grains are recorded and uploaded electronically in a central server.
The press release also stated that about 78.67% ration shops are Aadhaar enabled. Moreover, 5.27 Lakhs of Fair Price Shops are installed across the country. This provision has allowed states and Union Territories to identify the person and decide proper subsidies. The press release also provided a table of progress made so far towards Aadhaar seeding and FMS automation.
Status of End-to-End Computerization of PDS Operations (State Wise)
Electronic Point of Sale and Aadhaar
The Electronic Point of Sale technology market is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. It is used by both small and big retailers. It is a computerized system by which sales are recorded using a laser to read codes at the back of the packages. The EPOS system comprises of all the necessary hardware and software best suited to point a sale of environment. Some of its common components of EPOS system are pins, clips, weighing scales etc. The EPOS system comprises of such software that that it not only records sale but also track customer loyalty. Mostly the POS system accepts cash but it also accepts credit or debit cards
Aadhaar in Fair Price Shops
There are more 5.27 lakhs of Fair Price Shops out of which 78.67% shops are Aadhaar enabled. This means two things; first of all in order to avail subsidised grains from the Fair Price Shops people should produce Aadhaar Card at the Fair Price Shops and secondly Aadhaar is also important to take the biometric authentication of a person. Biometric authentication is done either by fingerprint scanning or by iris scanning. This information is then matched with the data about that person in the Aadhaar centre which was provided by him at the time of Aadhaar enrollment.
Source: PIB Press Release