The government expects to see a steep fall in the coming months as system is streamlined

The attempt to regulate the quantum of rice drawn by beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS) has not met with much success. Neither Aadhaar seeding of ration cards nor the introduction of ‘smart cards’, which were supposed to remedy this situation, helped.

In February 2017, the quantity of rice offtake was little less than 3.23 lakh tonnes. A year later, it came down by 6,000 tonnes to around 3.17 lakh tonnes.

Between April 2017 and February 2018, the quantity of rice drawn was about 35 lakh tonnes, barely 1.75 lakh tonnes short of the annual allotment assured to Tamil Nadu under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Every month, the State requires around 3.2 lakh tonnes.

Steep rise checked

In 2016 and 2017, the Aadhaar seeding and the distribution of smart cards were carried out vigorously.

Out of 6.6 crore Aadhaar allottees in the State, 6.3 crore have been covered.

Out of the 1,94,58,897 conventional cards in vogue in the State, smart cards were given to all but 34,975 persons.

A senior official of the department is, however, quick to point out that with the net increase of four lakh cards in the last one year and enhanced entitlements being provided to the beneficiaries over and above what has been prescribed by the NFSA, the drawal of rice would have been much higher than the present level but for the measures taken by the department.

Also, if one were to consider the figures of drawal by the PDS beneficiaries in December 2017 and February 2018, the reduction is quite perceptible at around 13,000 tonnes.

“It is only since February that we started insisting on the production of smart cards at the time of getting the provisions from fair price shops. We hope to see a further fall in the rice drawal in the coming months,” the official says.

Fingerprint data

Another measure being planned by the department is to collect fingerprint data from the beneficiaries.

It will take about four months to install machines at the fair price shops. The department hopes that after the implementation of this step, the fall in the rice drawal will be steeper.

The government is keen on bringing down the quantum of drawal given the ₹1,000 crore annual expenditure it incurs in meeting the gap between the requirement and the allotment.

On an average, 25,000 tonnes are purchased every month over and above the NFSA allotment.