CHENNAI:  To stop the interstate smuggling of PDS rice to bordering states like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, the Tamil Nadu Food and Civil Supplies Department plans to implement QR codes on PDS rice bags that are being moved from its godowns.

The PDS rice bags that come out of the godowns would all have QR codes introduced by the department, officers from the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation said. A number of ration stores failed to get the rice that was being carried from godowns, putting the Civil Supplies department under fire. The department has become aware of the issue and is making sure that the rice is getting to the ration stores as a result of incidents of rice being smuggled from Tamil Nadu and caught from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh regions.

"The QR codes that will be made available on each PDS rice bag would ensure that the rice bags are reaching the ration stores solely and that no intermediaries are scouting the bags to be sold in the black market," a senior official with the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation told IANS. In addition, the trucks transporting the PDS rice bags from the godowns to the ration shops would be outfitted with high-end, technologically advanced GPS.

After buying rice at a discount from ration card holders, it was being smuggled into Andhra Pradesh on two-wheelers through byways. Between May 7, 2021, and August 30, 2022, the Tamil Nadu police detained 11,091 people and recovered goods worth Rs. 11.3 crore.

The owners of the rice mills, who claim that rice is being smuggled into Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, denied any involvement in the smuggling and accused truck drivers and cleaners of being behind it in order to make quick money.

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