Thanjavur: In a bid to prevent malpractices in the public distribution system (PDS), all 6,36,085 family cards have been registered and linked to Aadhaar cards in all the PDS shops in the district.

According to official sources, around 24,50,376 card holders in the district are now getting sugar, dhal, palmolein, wheat, kerosene and priceless rice in all the 1,183 PDS shops functioning in the district.

The new computerisation plan will enable buyers to know the list of provisions that they purchased from PDS shops through SMSs sent to the mobile numbers of the card holders. “The new system will also avoid duplication of entries in registers as no paper bills will be used at the time of purchase made from PDS shops,” said S Gangadharan, District Supply Officer.

In Thanjavur district, all the 1,183 PDS shops have now been computerised with Point of Sale connectivity. At least 71 per cent of the population in the district has so far been linked to the Aadhaar cards and 88 per cent of card-holders have provided their mobile numbers to the PDS shops, the DSO said.

The PDS shops were now engaged in registering the number of all ration cards to maintain its sales and purchase registers. The computerisation has made the sales work paperless and easier. The buyers also need not wait in long queues to make purchases, Gangadharan said.

From November 1 this year, 5 kg of priceless rice is given per head under the National Food Security scheme based on the total number of family members. So, a family of 10 members will get 100 kg of rice. Earlier, just 20 kg of rice was distributed to each ration card irrespective of its total number of family members, Gangadharan said.