‘Public can draw essential commodities at fair price shops by providing family card number, biometrics’

'Public can draw essential commodities at fair cost shops by providing family card number, biometrics' Original smart cards need not be produced, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P.

Key points

• They would come up in districts including Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Salem, Kancheepuram, Kallakurichi, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur, Karur, Coimbatore, Thenkasi, Salem, Sivagangai and Namakkal.
• He remarked the combined capacity of these facilities would be 31, 000 tonnes and they would be for apply of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.
• Maintenance of 17 existing godowns belonging to the corporation would be taken up at a cost of ₹12.61 crore.
• According to Venkataramanan on Thursday, the original smart cards need not be produced to draw essential commodities at fair rate shops in the State.
• Speaking on the demands for the Food department in the State Assembly, he remarked that card holders can draw commodities at any shop of their choice.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P. According to Venkataramanan on Thursday, the original smart cards need not be produced to draw essential commodities at fair rate shops in the State. It would be enough if a digital copy is shown or number is given along with the biometric data by the card holder.

Speaking on the demands for the Food department in the State Assembly, he remarked that card holders can draw commodities at any shop of their choice. "Suppose someone is travelling, they can draw their essential goods from a shop in the vicinity, " he explained.

MLAs including S. Kamaraj of Mannargudi and K. Karthikeyan of Kallakurichi expressed reservations over lack of internet connectivity at fair rate shops in far flung areas of their constituencies. Mr. Kamaraj wanted to know if the old method of just issuing bills for the goods could be opted in such locations. "In the Kalvaroyan Hills, the scanning devices keep lagging. Almost 25% of my population lives in the hills, " stated Mr. Karthikeyan.

Afterwards, the Minister unveiled that as part of the government's efforts to augment storage capacity for food grains, 15 godowns will be constructed in 13 districts at a total cost of ₹81.60 crore. He remarked the combined capacity of these facilities would be 31, 000 tonnes and they would be for apply of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.

They would come up in districts including Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Salem, Kancheepuram, Kallakurichi, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur, Karur, Coimbatore, Thenkasi, Salem, Sivagangai and Namakkal. The warehouses would have drinking water and toilet facilities for staff too.

In practice, the Minister additionally unveiled the construction of three modern godowns at the existing storage premises' belonging to the Tamil Nadu Warehouse Corporation at Ariyalur, Namakkal and Mettupalayam at a cost of ₹13.50 crore with a combined capacity of 3400 tonnes. Maintenance of 17 existing godowns belonging to the corporation would be taken up at a cost of ₹12.61 crore.

Mr. According to Venkataramanan, lands belonging to the Dharmapuram Aadheenam were being employed to create extra storage for food grains. Steps would be taken to prevent loaders from collecting ₹50 per bag of paddy from farmers at the direct procurement centres.

For now, 'Public can draw essential commodities at fair price shops by providing family remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.