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Mr Nandan Nilekani wants to know how the Gujarat Government managed to weed out 14 lakh bogus ration cards, and that too, in just four months.
So, the Task Force he heads will hear presentations from Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and six other States on August 17.
The Task Force is trying to suggest ways to provide direct cash subsidies to the poor for buying foodgrains and sugar. It intends to suggest an end-to-end solution which includes complete computerisation of the PDS. It has to submit its report by August 31.
Gujarat model
Gujarat had launched a new model for the PDS on April 1 with software developed by NIC. The software helps in getting a biometric impression from the ration card holder and prints a barcode on the card.
Very few villages have computers. So, E-Gram machines in clusters of villages have been installed. These machines read the bar code and issue coupons to the card holder, who can then collect his rations from the nearest assigned fair price shop.
As of now, the system is operating in 69 Tehsils. The entire State is expected to be covered by March 2012.
Chhattisgarh is using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to track trucks carrying PDS supplies. Every card is bar coded.
Orissa project
In Orissa, from May 1 this year, the State Government has introduced a new system for ration cards in Raigarh district.
Under this system, every ration card in the urban areas will have a bar code, while in the rural areas it will have a smart code.
The smart code contains biometric information apart from other normal information available from the bar code.
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