CR Chaudhary, the Minister of State Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, says that the Government is taking steps for investing in technology for upgrading the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Depot Online System is operational at 377 depots including 30 pilot depots.
System Integrator (SI) created user credentials for 494 depots and shared with the depots and district offices along with the link for accessing the application for login in.
SI has conducted training for the implementation of the application at depots other than Pre-Pilot & Pilot Depot at 164 FCI district offices, 25 FCI regional offices and 5 FCI zonal offices.
The Government has delivered hardware at 494 depots and 117 district offices.
SI has integrated the e-mail gateway — provided by NIC — with the application.
The minister said digitization of Beneficiary Database for PDS enables correct identification of beneficiaries; removal of bogus cards and better targeting of food subsidies.
FCI has agreed to the proposal for upgrading Institute of Food Security (IFS) Lab, Gurgaon, purchase of equipments, National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation and outsourcing of testing of chemical parameters to fulfill Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) requirements.
