Ranchi : Jharkhand Government is working on a project to install Grain ATMs, a multi-commodity automated machine, at 10 locations across the state on a pilot basis.
The move is aimed at modernizing the Public Distribution System (PDS) for seamless delivery of food items to the beneficiaries and to check leakages in the supply chain.
The move is significant for this tribal stronghold, where there are over 65 lakh ration card holders out of 3 crore population. Reports of erratic distribution of ration to the beneficiaries and even starvation deaths due to various man-made obstacles are common. Director of the State Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Dilip Tirkeytold TOI on Wednesday that they are looking for an agency to supply, install, maintain and operate grain ATMs.
“We have issued an expression of interest for the project earlier this month, soliciting interested parties to send their proposal. The date to apply for bidding has now been extended till March 23 as earlier only one party had shown interest till March 12. We need at least two bidders to submit proposals for an agency to be finalized,” Tirkey said, adding that they are aggressively pursuing the project. If all goes well, grain ATMs will be operational in the next few months.
The department plans to set up 10 grain ATMs in major cities where it has food storage godowns and high-throughput PDS shops.
It will gradually set up ATMs in other areas of the state based on the success of the pilot project. Last year, Gurgaon became the first in the country to adopt this model, inspired by an automated food dispenser project called Annapurti, run by the United Nations World Food Programme.
Explaining the concept of an automatic food dispenser machine, another official who did the initial draft of the project said that the one installed in Gurgaon has the capacity to dispense 70-80 kg of food in 8-10 minutes.
“The automated grain/multi-commodity ATM will be linked to the biometric system and fitted with a touch screen, where a beneficiary can enter his Aadhaar number or ration card number to obtain the prescribed quota of ration. Based on the proposals of various agencies, we will select the best technology-based machine,” the official said.
The move is aimed at modernizing the Public Distribution System (PDS) for seamless delivery of food items to the beneficiaries and to check leakages in the supply chain.
The move is significant for this tribal stronghold, where there are over 65 lakh ration card holders out of 3 crore population. Reports of erratic distribution of ration to the beneficiaries and even starvation deaths due to various man-made obstacles are common. Director of the State Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Dilip Tirkeytold TOI on Wednesday that they are looking for an agency to supply, install, maintain and operate grain ATMs.
“We have issued an expression of interest for the project earlier this month, soliciting interested parties to send their proposal. The date to apply for bidding has now been extended till March 23 as earlier only one party had shown interest till March 12. We need at least two bidders to submit proposals for an agency to be finalized,” Tirkey said, adding that they are aggressively pursuing the project. If all goes well, grain ATMs will be operational in the next few months.
The department plans to set up 10 grain ATMs in major cities where it has food storage godowns and high-throughput PDS shops.
It will gradually set up ATMs in other areas of the state based on the success of the pilot project. Last year, Gurgaon became the first in the country to adopt this model, inspired by an automated food dispenser project called Annapurti, run by the United Nations World Food Programme.
Explaining the concept of an automatic food dispenser machine, another official who did the initial draft of the project said that the one installed in Gurgaon has the capacity to dispense 70-80 kg of food in 8-10 minutes.
“The automated grain/multi-commodity ATM will be linked to the biometric system and fitted with a touch screen, where a beneficiary can enter his Aadhaar number or ration card number to obtain the prescribed quota of ration. Based on the proposals of various agencies, we will select the best technology-based machine,” the official said.