Poor connectivity, working of POS machines in PDS shops disrupted in Kangra district

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, February 23

Poor Internet connectivity in the point of sale (POS) machines installed in all government fair price shops has become a bane of depot and ration card holders in Kangra district for the past three months.

A Tamil Nadu-based private company had supplied these machines. But the Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, which runs fair price foodgrain outlets in rural and urban areas, has failed to rectify a glitch, causing inconvenience to the consumers and the depot holders.

Inquiries reveal that in Kangra district alone, around 18.50 lakh ration card holders use these POS machines for purchasing subsidised food items such as wheat, rice, pulses, salt and edible oil from 2,000 government fair price shops. Poor connectivity in the POS machines is delaying the disbursement of foodgrains to the ration card holders. These machines are digital and meant for maintaining the record of sales in the fair price shops.

Sudarshan Sharma, president of the Depot Holders’ Association, Kangra district, says that the POS machines were installed in all fair price shops in 2016-17. Due to poor internet connectivity, repeated attempts are required for selling foodgrains to the ration card holders, which is cumbersome and time consuming. He underlines the need for some alternative, like usage of QR code, for smooth and uninterrupted supply of subsidised foodgrains, he added.

Parshotam Singh, District Food and Civil Supplies Controller, Kangra, says that ration cards have been linked with Aadhaar cards of the beneficiaries and the connectivity problem is due to a glitch in the server of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). “Keeping in view the ongoing Internet connectivity issue, the depot holders are being allowed to use the QR code facility for selling foodgrains to the consumers,” he adds.