ICT Solution being developed and implemented for PDS domain the introduction of ICT has been done at all levels, most of the processes and record maintenance that were manual have been automated in an integrated manner. The concerned official operates the web based system for creation, issuance and updation of Ration Cards. Sale and movement of commodities from storage point to retailers and then to beneficiaries is captured online without involving duplicate data entry at any instance. The data is captured from the point of it’s generation through a work flow based system thus reducing lot of manual work by the dealing hand. ICT has also facilitated online application of Ration Cards and checking the status of modification requests over web. The information about grain availability is disseminated through SMS’s and Portal. In the Dashboard, Management is able to have full details on stocks availability, allocation against demand, real time management of grains and beneficiary-wise distribution of commodities. Any change in beneficiary data is automatically being taken into consideration for further distribution of commodities.

Lot of Government efforts involved in terms of compilation, consolidation and analysis of data have been saved as system provides for all levels of data warehousing and data mining. People at management level can do monitoring and policy planning based on real time data on number, type and distribution of beneficiaries. Efficiency in sale and management of commodities is achieved ensuring that the benefits are reaching the deserving families.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has been undertaken in the project, initially with three UTs Puducherry, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH) to provide food subsidies in the form of cash directly in the bank account of the beneficiary.

Fair Price Shops (FPS) being the only point of contact for the beneficiaries in the entire value chain, its automation/ computerization is of critical importance. For this purpose, specification of Point of Sale (PoS) devices/ tablets have been prepared by NIC and shared with all states to take benefit from and procure devices for their respective pilots.