10 March 2011: The State Government announced issuance of Smart Cards to the eligible families below poverty line, based on Aadhar number. This is to avoid misuse of ration given at fair price shops. These cards work on the biometrics system in which the finger prints of the family members covered in the ration card are captured. The ration will be given to the person of the family whose finger print matches at the point of sales terminals. The state government is planning to transform these smart cards in to multipurpose cards which enable access to other services such as Arogyasri and fee reimbursements. These cards are presently issued in Hyderabad along with other districts including Adilabad, East Godavari, Rangareddy, Srikakulam, Chittoor and Anantapur.
The civil supplies minister further stated that the information of bogus ration cards will be posted on the website. He also said that the vendor enlistment for these fair price shops will be done by central government.
Source: The Hindu