The Noble Peace Prize Winner of 2020 ‘World Food Programme’ in collaboration with the Department of Food and Public Distribution India is planning to introduce Annapurti ATM of grains as an innovative measure to carry out reforms in Public Distribution System. Annapurti automatic grain dispenser like ATM would be introduced in five states Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The machine can dispense two commodities of 25 Kg per 1.3 minutes. The capacity is 100 kg to 500 kg can be installed depending on the demand.
At Karnataka, the ATMs pilot project is to be set at a slum in Bengaluru, to facilitate the poor to avail of rice on tap. This Annapurti dispenser is part of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), that has been closely working with the Indian government to combat the hunger. The Karnataka food and civil supplies minister K Gopalaiah said the Karnataka government is working closely with the Centre to set up the ATMs, and additional responsibility to follow up the activity has been given to the joint Director. “We will identify a place which is home to a large number of people from the lower income group, and install it. It will remain open all day long, and people can make use of it accordingly,’’ he said.
At present, under the Anna Bhagya scheme, the Karnataka government is providing rice, grains and other essentials to 1.27 crore families, contributing to 4.32 crore people per month. And is provided free for BPL card holders, and a nominal sum is charged for APL card holders.“We will give the beneficiaries an ATM card along with biometrics to get their rice quota. This is in the initial stage, once we get the machine, there will be more clarity,’’ he added.
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