CIVIL SUPPLIES DEALINGS AIM TO GO CASHLESS

The Civil Supplies Department is all set to introduce ePOS and biometric AePS in 17,500 fair price shops across Telangana besides launching other digital initiatives. Softwares like OPMS (Online Procurement Management System), SCM (Supply Chain Management), FMS (Financial Management System) to make payment online, are being developed to move towards 100 per cent cashless transactions, Telangana Commissioner of Civil Supplies C V Anand said.

The department will also have enforcement wing task force with 5 teams, each headed by a retired SP rank officer and each comprising of one Tahsildar, and other officials.

“ePOS point of sale machines linked with Iris Scanner, weighing scale with voice over, and biometric Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) would be adopted in all 17,500 fair price shops in a phased manner from next month onwards,” he said while addressing reporters. Despite Parsi-Zoroastrians in Mumbai and Gujarat having discarded the traditional sky burial, Parsis in Secunderabad and Hyderabad still prefer the age-old Tower of Silence for disposing of their dead.

Recently, the community in Navsari, a city in Gujarat, met following a demand from some members for creation of an ‘Aramgah’, (burial ground) for those who wanted to move away from the “sky burials.” Some in Mumbai are opting cremation.

There are two old dokhmas or 'Towers of Silence', as they are more popularly known, in Secunderabad, one in Bhoiguda and the other in Parsigutta. There was just one case of cremation last year, it is learnt.

The traditional method of disposal of the dead is to expose the body atop tall towers where they used to be eaten by vultures. But since the vulture population in India is practically extinct, this method is no longer workable. Solar concentrators have been installed in some cities like Mumbai, which proponents of the old method claim work as well.

This has been disputed and there is a major controversy in the community about whether it is not better to also allow Parsis the option of burial or cremation. In fact, several Parsis do take this option, with a modern crematorium and prayer hall having been completed in Mumbai through community subscription for this purpose. Delhi's Parsis have always been laid to rest in an aramgarh or burial ground and Parsis in Navsari, in Gujarat, too, are considering this option.

Aspi S Debara, honorary secretary of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman of Secunderabad and Hyderabad told Deccan Chronicle that community members in the twin cities still prefer the Tower of Silence and are not inclined towards burials.

“Parsis are tradition bound. The dead are taken to the Tower of Silence even today. I don't know about the burial demand in Gujarat, but some are opting for cremation. There was one cremation last year in Hyderabad,”he said.

He says that solar concentrators installed eight years ago for faster disposal are functioning well in Hyderabad. The Parsi Anjuman had earmarked some land a couple of years back for a burial ground in Nizamabad, but it was never used.

“The land is lying idle. No one has used it to date,” Mr Debara says.

Zoroastrians consider a dead body (in addition to cut hair and nail parings) to be nasu, unclean.