By IANS
Chandigarh : Ration card holders in Chandigarh buying kerosene from government kerosene pumps will now have something new to look up to – digital fingerprinting. Future distribution of kerosene will be on the basis of bio-metric verification.
Aimed at minimising chances of pilferage of subsidised kerosene that finds its way to the black market, the Chandigarh administration's food and supplies department has initiated the project to capture fingerprints of all ration card holders in the city.
"This process is a step forward in the broader vision of the department for providing hassle-free and technology-enabled services to the beneficiaries and also check any pilferage of kerosene in the black market," deputy commissioner R.K. Rao said.
The department recently computerised the ration card records of nearly 50,000 beneficiaries who are registered at various kerosene depots for drawing kerosene oil. This process included scanning of family photograph and application form of the applicant.
Rao said that every single drop of kerosene oil would be effectively monitored once the system is in place. He added that oil sales in the city had reduced by about 200,000 litres per month after intensive verification drives were conducted by the department.
The department has cancelled nearly 25,000 ghost ration cards following strict measures.
The use of fingerprinting technology has been started as a pilot project at the Sector 15 kerosene depot – one of the busiest ones in the city.
The facility will be extended to all dozen-odd kerosene pumps in the city within a fortnight. All ration card holders will have to get themselves registered and get their finger prints captured.
Rao said that nearly 1,000 ration card holders have already got their finger prints captured.