(a) whether it is true that the Government will equip ration shops across the country for cashless transactions by March end, 2018;
(b) whether it is also true that at present cashless payment can be made only in 38,000 outlets of the total 5.27 lakh ration shops; and
(c) whether it is also true that the Government has a concrete plan to meet this target and the same has been prepared in consultation with State Governments, if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (c): To increase transparency and to modernize & automate TPDS operations, Department in association with States/UTs is implementing the installation of electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices for the biometric authentication and distribution of the subsidized foodgrains to eligible beneficiaries under Public Distribution System (PDS). Since these devices are able to perform Aadhaar based biometric authentication of beneficiaries, they can be leveraged to enable Aadhaar based digital/cashless transactions at FPSs with the help of additional software-application integration. As per information given by States/UTs, at present out of 5.27 lakh FPSs, 51,818 FPSs have implemented cashless/digital transactions facilities.
State/UT Governments have been advised to adopt a phase-wise approach, starting with Metropolitan Cities, Municipal Corporations, Municipalities, District Headquarters and other urban areas where the conditions allow for effective implementation, and then expand it to semi-urban and rural areas.
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