Hyderabad is successfully distributing a three-month ration supply in Telangana, overcoming initial challenges like manual and technical delays. So far, over 43% of the distribution is complete.
Civil Supplies officials have streamlined the process for Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries. Now, both Central and State rice are distributed together using a single authentication and weighment method. This improvement followed intervention by Commissioner DS Chauhan and collaboration with Central NIC officials, leading to the adoption of the Smart PDS system.
In Telangana, there are over 91 lakh ration cards. About 55 lakh cards, or 60%, are issued under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), providing 5 kg of rice from the Centre and 1 kg from the State. The remaining 40% of beneficiaries receive 6 kg entirely from the State government. The Civil Supplies department assures continuous distribution till the end of June.
Officials urge beneficiaries not to rush or worry about shortages at Fair Price Shops (FPS). They recommend visiting FPS outlets in a staggered manner to avoid crowding and ensure smooth collection of entitlements.
Despite efforts to streamline the process, some beneficiaries, like P Sandhya, report spending over an hour to collect their ration due to the required authentication steps. However, the community is cooperating to complete the distribution efficiently.
