HT Correspondent
ITANAGAR, May 13: The biometric authentication of beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)-II under Integral Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS) one nation one ration card policy of the government of India was kick-started at Rajnivas Cooperative, here on Thursday by the mayor of Itanagar Tame Phassang.
Deputy commissioner Talo Potom, corporators and officials of food and civil supply attended the ceremony.
The DFCSO ICC Amit Bengia while highlighting the features of PMGKAY scheme and provisions under NFSA, informed that the objective of the IM-PDS scheme was to implement nation-wide portability of benefits under National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Under this scheme eligible households/ beneficiaries covered under NFSA particularly Antodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) and Priority Households would be able to lift their entitled food grains from any fair price shop (FPS) of their choice in the country by using their same/ existing ration card after biometric/ Aadhar authentication on electronic point of sale (ePoS) device at the FPS in a destination/ sale state/ Union Territories (UTs) through One Nation One Ration card System by integrating the existing PDS systems/ portals of states/ UTs with the central systems/ portals under Central repository of all NFSA ration cards/ beneficiaries.
The Mayor lauded the initiative of the district administration and Department of Food & Civil Supplies for ensuring uninterrupted supplies of essential commodities amidst entire Capital complex containment and distribution of PMGKAY free rice to the genuine 3,781 AAY and 66,859 PHH beneficiaries covering 70,647 populations with 735 and 11,819 Aadhar authenticated AAY and priority household ration cards, respectively of Itanagar capital complex at the rate of 5 kg per head.
The mayor has also appealed to the denizens of the Capital complex to follow the SOPs as issued by the government and state government from time to time for the well-being of the citizens.
The DFCSO has also appealed to co-operators of IMC to extend support in ensuring physical distance while issuing ration items from the FPS and other essential shops at their respective wards. “FPS wise/ ward-wise/ Panchayat segment wise distribution plan is also being circulated,” he added.
Later, the EAC Itanagar Neelam Teji also distributed free ration to the beneficiaries at Dari and T Atum FPS, after the programme kick-started in the morning.