Smart card readers sent, PDS shops ready

A senior official said that the shop vendors had already been equipped with barcode readers. “They have already been trained on using the devices,” the official said.

“Snags, if any, detected would be conveyed to the zonal office where the reserve set of devices are kept. Zonal officials would immediately despatch a device from the reserve to the respective shop to replace the faulty device,” the official added.

Sources indicated that the state was inching towards the roll out of total migration to the use of smart cards at all levels in the Fair Price Shops (FPS). “We are all prepped up at our end. All that is required is the nod from the state for the project to go live,” the official said.

On the old Family Cards issued by the state, he revealed that they would be rendered useless and become invalid. Such cards cannot be even used as a documentary proof while availing other services from the state.

The official also clarified that it would not stop provision for the card holders who are yet to receive their smart cards. “This would be applicable only if the cards were not yet generated. Once the smart card was generated, the beneficiary would have to use only the smart card on migration,” he pointed out.