POS machines to check anganwadi ration leaks
AFTER COMPLAINTS Rajasthan govt to launch pilot project from Chaksu block in Jaipur
JAIPUR: After complaints of leakage in the ration given to women a nd c hi l d r e n t hr o ugh t he anganwadis, the state government plans to launch a pilot scheme from Chaksu block under which POS (point of sale) machines will be used to maintain a record of ration distribution.
Mamta Bhupesh, women and child development department minister, said complaints were being received from across the state that there were leakages in the take home ration.
“We have got complaints that there is a mismatch between the number of children registered in the anganwadis and those taking the ration,” she said.
“With use of POS machines we want to strengthen the monitoring so that the pilferage can be checked.”
KK P a t h a k , secretary, women and child development department, said the tenders for purchasing the POS machines have been finalised and will be issued soon.
“From t he new f i nancial year, we will i nstal the machines in Chaksu,” he said. There are 304 blocks in the state.
There are 62,000 anganwadis in the state where children between 3-6 years are enrolled and given cooked meals. Pregnant and lactating women are given take home ration.
He said there are 35 lakh beneficiaries of the ration, of which 10 lakh are children and the rest are women.
Children are given breakfast and lunch. In breakfast, children are served laddoos, murmura, milk and fruits while for lunch they get khichdi and dalia. The take home ration is given weekly to the pregnant women and lactating mothers and children below 3 years. Women get 930 gm of panjiri per week while children below 3 years get 750 gm panjiri per week.
Pathak said the fingerprint of the children’s guardians will be taken on the POS machines weekly t o keep t abs on t he r a t i o n di s t r i but i o n to t he women and children.
For children’s attendance, the fingerprint of the guardians will be taken once a month.
Pathak said currently the monitoring in most districts is done manually with the anganwadi workers entering details of the ration in registers that they maintain. However this has led to complaints of irregularities, he said.
In nine districts, a digital communication application system has been deployed by the centre in which the anganwadi worker has to enter number of children to whom the ration has been distributed.
“But i n t h i s s y s t e m t h e authentication is not happening,” he said.
Jodhpur district is trying a time stamp camera technique in which the camera records the time and date on which the ration has been given and this technique has also worked well, said Pathak.
He s a i d t h e c o s t o f o n e machine is ₹15,000-20,000 and t he c o s t o f i ns t a l l a t i o n o f machines in anganwadis in one block will be about ₹60 lakh. The department budget f or t he cooked meal that is provided to children in anganwadis and the take home ration is ₹800 crore per annum.