Tribal-dominated Raygada district in Orissa on Wednesday became the first district in the country to have biometric rations cards and bar-coded ration cards for its million plus population.
Designed jointly by the state government and the World Food Programme (WFP), the hi-tech biometric registration system aims to ensure that subsidised food goes only to those entitled to it. The district has been chosen as a pilot district by the World Food Pogramme and Government of India, said WFP state director BK Bal.
The ration cards launched by CM Naveen Patnaik at Raygada on Wednesday is the first of its kind in the country. All the 13 indicators of Biometric identification (Iris of both eyes, face and 10 fingerprints) have been taken into account for a targeted PDS project. All ghost cards have already been eliminated.
Around one million beneficiaries across the district have been electronically recorded. “While people living in Raygada municipal areas were given biometric ration cards, the rural people were given bar-coded ration cards. The system is corruption proof,” said state food supplies and consumer welfare secretary A K Meena.