Public Distribution System | PDS | EPDS | e-pds | Electronic pds
Public engagement with this Online Distribution Core, The Government connected with the food grain movement, allocation, distribution, thefts, and grievances in real-time. The cases of thefts as intercepted by a common man in the district can be instantly reported online or through mobile phones. The reported complaint then gets assigned to the authorized officials and actions are taken immediately. Unlike other systems, in pdsonline. in, the complainant is kept in the loop in this whole process of redressal by sending SMS alerts and informing as and when the action is taken on the registered complaint.
This helps in engaging the beneficiaries in partnering with the Government in managing the supply chain fairly and efficiently.GPS tracking foodgrain movement is monitored in realtime with the help of GPS devices. These GPS devices when mounted over the ferrying vehicles, send out the route information back to the system in realtime. This helps in catching the data points about the entire planned journey.
The electronics weigh bridges are used in this electronics system of distribution that allowed the weights to be directly entered to the system automatically without any manual intervention so that the chances of error and thefts are eliminated.
Hitherto, manual and slowcore of Public Distribution System are now automatic and instant. The opacity of the distribution is now transparent. Information and reports are open in public space and available on the click. The disbursal Vs Offtake report can be generated at every node of the distribution chain. Like one can generate the report for entire district wise, blockwise, panchayat wise, dealer-wise.
POS terminals tightly couple all the nodes of the PDS supply chain, and to remove manual intervention, the system provides Point of Sale terminals to the dealers. This POS terminal reads the barcoded coupons and registers the offtake by the beneficiary on to the centrally located MIS wirelessly. Foodgrains are weighed electronically at FCI, then at SFC and then dealers’ disbursal to the beneficiary too is logged in to MIS through POS terminal. The disbursal Vs offtake data is managed at MIS for each dealer. Total disbursal Vs offtake data is available for the various abstraction of the district like for whole district, block, panchayat, etc.
PoS terminals are low cost, low power devices designed especially for rural demography where there is a shortage of power supply. These devices have the capability to reduce bandwidth requirements keeping in mind the intermittent internet connectivity in a rural setup.
Employment GenerationApart from ensuring due entitlement of poor reaching to them, the automated PDS also becomes a source of employment generation. In pdsonline data center, young college pass-outs, men and women alike, can be seen generating the reports and resolving queries on toll-free number.
When we contacted the developers of the system, Oglacs Software Pvt Ltd, they discussed their plan for the next phase where the system would be eco-friendly- a green solution. That would solve the problem interrupted power supply where devices and weighbridges shall be operated on solar energy. That make the solution not only eco-friendly but would also reducing a huge recurring cost incurred on alternate power supplies like generators.
“We plan to replace SFC and FCI laptops with low power devices like tablets those can be operated with the help of solar chargers. Similar is the plan for solar powered weighbridges. We intend to bring down the recurring cost substantially.” Engineering Director at Oglacs quoted as saying.
The Hon’ble Minister and the entire Gaya District Administration are hopeful that this State-Of-The-Art solution (pdsonline.in) shall certainly help in bringing transparency, accountability and better manageability in the system and as a result, the due entitlement of the poor people reaching them smoothly. At various nodes where the system is already functional, various incidents of theft and frauds have already caught with the help of this system. With increased coverage of this system, in a very short period of time, the hitherto one of the most inefficient department of public distribution system, shall be a very effective tool in social upliftment of the common man.
