States, UTs to explore additional revenue streams to raise financial viability of fair price shops

One of the best practices on FPS transformation was demonstrated by the secretary, the government of Tamil Nadu, highlighting multiple initiatives undertaken such as selling of commodities, minor millets, grocery items, ISO certification of FPSs during his presentation, according to an official statement from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution released on Saturday.

The secretary, DFPD, lauded the persistent efforts of Tamil Nadu and stressed on the significance of transformation of FPS during a conference of food secretaries on Friday here.

Important issues linked with various schemes of the department including implementation of rice fortification, One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), Smart PDS, route optimisation, etc, were discussed in details with the food secretaries of states and UTs.

Chopra said that the government of India was aiming to achieve full distribution of fortified rice in all government programmes by the year 2023-24.

He said the ecosystem was fully geared up to achieve the target and States/UTs have been requested to strengthen their respective machinery in order to be fully prepared to ensure the procurement, supply and distribution of fortified rice as per the stipulated timeline. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is conducting this initiative all over the country.

Through a presentation, the Department highlighted the Learning Management System (LMS) developed by it in collaboration with World Food Programme (WFP) which has seen more than 12,000 registrations, along with the generation of more than 34,000-course completion certificates, according to the ministry statement.

It said there were currently six modules in the LMS and more were being added. States/UTs are requested to suggest topics of specific relevance to them. The LMS has digitised the capacity building of the PDS functionaries.

The Department was also envisaging a new and unified scheme to strengthen the PDS technology components by standardisation of its operation and implementation of data-driven decision-making through data analytics, the ministry statement said.

It added that this scheme aims to transform the entire PDS IT ecosystem by leveraging the usage of Cloud and new-age technology which shall be named as Scheme for Modernisation and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System -SMART-PDS.

During the conference, a presentation was made indicating the present status of the finalisation of accounts, their pendency and way forward for accelerating the same.

A presentation was made on 'Route Optimisation of TDPS Supply Chain' which reduces overall logistics cost by optimally utilising existing resources like FPS, godown. Estimated finding of route optimisation study in Uttarakhand by WFP (World Food Programme) was shared by the state's official, according to the statement.

The roll-out plan of Annapurti Grain ATM developed by WFP, was also presented during the Conference. According to the statement, it can dispense two commodities and takes about 90 seconds in dispensing 50 kg of foodgrains.

The solution reduces manual labour and automates the distribution of foodgrains under the PDS. Currently, four Annapurti solutions have been installed at Gurgaon, Dehradun, Varanasi and Bhubaneshwar. 6 more solutions are being installed at Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru, the ministry statement said. (ANI)