PDS coupons in Bihar to be bar-coded from June….Santosh Singh
In a unique move to curb corruption in the public distribution system (PDS), ration coupons in Bihar will be bar-coded from June.
The next set of PDS coupons a for June 2011 to May 2012 has gone into print and will have bar code to prevent duplication. A bar code is a group of thin and thick lines printed on products you buy in a shop, and which a computer can read. It contains information such as the price.
We have ordered a press in Kolkata to print bar-coded coupons for 1.45 crore BPL families. The idea came from bar-coding of products at department stores, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Shyam Rajak told The Indian Express.
A bar code on PDS coupons will be a mix of information related to such as customer card, dealer shop and customer BPL numbers. Though coupons will be sold to card-holders for full-year quota by marketing officers, now district supply officers (DSOs) will control and check veracity of coupons against customer complaints, or even run random checks through decoding machines. Earlier, complaints were dealt with at block levels.
Dealers and marketing officers can face cases under non-bailable sections of existing anti-hoarding laws if proven guilty of duplicating coupons, risking imprisonment for six months to one year.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar maintains till the Centre implements direct cash transfer under PDS to BPL families, bar-coding of coupons will ensure wheat, rice and kerosene oil are reaching the legitimate beneficiaries. The proposal of direct cash transfer is welcome, but the Centre has not committed any time frame for its implementation, he added.
The minister said though PDS coupons faced threats of duplication, bar-coded coupons will be very difficult to duplicate. Now we are also skipping dealers, marketing officers and block development officers. It will be monitored at district levels, he said, adding helplines would be announced after new coupons were distributed.
Rajak conceded that most complaints regarding less or no distribution of ration were against dealers and marketing officers. Now with bar-coding in place, it will be interesting to watch how the crooked people try to find a way out to bluff us, he added.
He said dealers would have to produce all coupons for which grains and kerosene oil were distributed every month. A dealer will be entitled to get fresh ration only against submission of coupons.