-Hindustan Times Under DBT system, beneficiaries are required to collect food subsidy in cash from their bank and then buy food grain from local Ration Shops at market price Septuagenarian Deventi Devi visited her bank, 6km from her village, thrice this month to withdraw her food subsidy credited by the government in her account under the Centre’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. She returned empty-handed each time because the bank said the...

-The Indian Express Biometric authentication by PDS dealers defeats the unique identity scheme’s purpose. An aborted scheme in Madhya Pradesh that relied on once-in-a-year authentication can curb exclusion errors. Aadhaar is in the news today partly because of security concerns and partly because of reports that the poor are unable to receive PDS rations because of failures in Aadhaar authentication. Here, we will focus on the latter with an eye to look...

-The Indian Express Since January, beneficiaries have been asked to authenticate their identity using fingerprints to avail foodgrain they are entitled to under the Food Security Act. New Delhi: “Agar machine hata di jaaye, toh bohot acha hai.” As 60-year-old Shanno Devi said these words, 200 people gathered at a hall in central Delhi broke into applause. “Public pareshaan hai,” she added. Devi was talking at a public hearing on Monday about the...

-NDTV Many of those who did not receive rations were told to come after January 15 as the government had declared it would introduce iris scan and one time password from that day to solve the fingerprint issue. However, till date there are no signs of it, leaving people helpless. New Delhi: For 40-year-old Maya Devi's family in Delhi, survival has become a struggle as she has not been able to...

-The Hindu For the 117 vacancies, 18,200 applications were received TIRUNELVELI (Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu): M.Phil. graduates, postgraduates, engineering graduates and others waited in a long queue in front of Tirunelveli District Central Cooperative Society as certificate verification and interview for 117 posts of salespersons in Ration Shops in the district began on Wednesday. Though the basic qualification for this post is just a pass in Plus Two, the educational qualification of the aspirants...