PDS system in Assam to be computerised with biometric cards

Assam food and civil supplies minister Nurjamal Sarkar today said the public distribution system would be computerised in the state and biometric cards would issued to beneficiaries to plug leakages.

"There is diversion of 15 to 25% of PDS commodities and it is impossible for the existing mechanism to stop it and as such we had requested Centre to computerise the PDS system," Sarkar told reporters in Guwahati.

The state agriculture department has agreed to computerise the system and initially the project would be initiated in Kamrup, Nagaon and Karbi Anglong districts before moving on to cover the remaining districts, he said.

The government would also issue biometric cards to the beneficiaries as only then can the diversion of commodities be completely plugged, Sarkar added.

The minister further denied that there was scam in the PDS system to the tune of Rs10,000 crore as alleged by the opposition Asom Gana Parishad.

"There is no scam in the system and AGP leaders have based their allegations on the basis of a flawed report of 2007 which have been informed to the Centre and the anomalies have been corrected," he said.