‘Public can draw essential commodities at fair price shops by providing family card number, biometrics’
Original smart cards need not be produced, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P. Venkataramanan tells Assembly
Tamil Nadu's Food and Civil Supplies Minister, P. Venkataramanan, clarified on Thursday that citizens can obtain essential goods from fair price shops by presenting a digital copy of their family card number or biometric data. This eliminates the need for the physical smart card at the point of sale. Travelers can utilize this system by purchasing goods from the nearest shop.
However, some lawmakers, such as S. Kamaraj from Mannargudi and K. Karthikeyan from Kallakurichi, voiced concerns about limited internet access in remote areas. Kamaraj inquired about the possibility of returning to the old method of issuing bills for purchased items in these locations. Meanwhile, the Minister unveiled plans to construct 15 new storage facilities with a combined capacity of 31,000 tonnes across 13 districts at a cost of ₹81.60 crore.
Additionally, three modern godowns will be built at existing Tamil Nadu Warehouse Corporation premises in Ariyalur, Namakkal, and Mettupalayam, with a combined capacity of 3,400 tonnes, costing ₹13.50 crore. The Minister also announced the maintenance of 17 existing godowns for ₹12.61 crore. Lands from Dharmapuram Aadheenam will be utilized to expand food grain storage.
The Minister assured that loaders would no longer charge farmers ₹50 per bag of paddy at direct procurement centers.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
