THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, DELHI
Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Delhi, Sh. Anil Baijal received the proposal for suspension of e-PoS devices from the Hon’ble CM and Hon’ble Minister (F&S) and concurred with the same. Hon’ble Lt. Governor hoped that all legal, financial and administrative implications of this decision have been taken into account by the elected government. Hon’ble Lt. Governor stated that we should not end up discarding the very technology that enabled detection of fraudulent transactions in the first place.
At the outset, Hon’ble Lt. Governor noted that introduction of e-PoS devices is part of a national level reform in the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) to enable end-to-end tracking of food grains. The objective of e-PoS devices is to ensure that only genuine cardholders or his or her family members whose names are mentioned in the ration card can buy the subsidized commodities. When the ration is taken, the e-PoS device captures the buyer’s biometrics which is verified online with the Aadhaar database. The device helps record all FPS transactions electronically, which enables real time accounting of opening stock, daily sales and closing stock which in turn facilitates monitoring & detection of fraudulent transactions.
Hon’ble Lt. Governor further stated that the introduction of e-PoS devices by the Delhi Government was a step in the right direction to ensure that only the eligible beneficiaries get the rations and there is no diversion. The department had also observed that only within two months of introduction of e-PoS devices, 98.75% of ration had been distributed online through e-PoS devices and operation of e-PoS devices had entered a crucial stage to weed out ineligible card holders from the system which is going to save around 16% of ration. Hence, the ration so saved could be used for distribution to lakhs of needy persons who are in the queue.
Hon’ble Lt. Governor observed that he was surprised to receive a proposal from the elected government to suspend the operation of e-PoS devices which they themselves were very keen to introduce just a few months ago in view of its crucial role in preventing diversion of food grains as explained above and particularly at a time when as per the Department, the operation of e-PoS had entered into a crucial phase to weed out lakhs of ineligible beneficiaries. Lt. Governor noted that this is why he had requested the Hon’ble Minister on 20.03.2018 to reconsider the decision to suspend the operation of e-PoS devices and take action to remove the names of ineligible beneficiaries by following due process. This would have met the goal of ensuring that while no eligible beneficiary is denied entitlement of food grains, at the same time, no ineligible beneficiary is allowed to avail the benefits which are intended for the poor and the needy. But since the proposal has been received again, Lt. Governor concurred with it.
Since Hon’ble CM & Hon’ble Minister had also made serious allegations of fraudulent withdrawal of rations by misuse of OTPs authentication in the e-PoS system, Hon’ble LG has referred the entire matter to the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) in view of the seriousness of the allegations made for expeditious investigation. Hon’ble LG also assured that strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty.
As regards the proposal of doorstep delivery of services, Hon’ble Lt. Governor reiterated that the same was never rejected. Hon’ble Lt. Governor hoped that sufficient safeguards are being put in place by the elected government in the proposed doorstep delivery scheme, since the same e-PoS machines, whose operation is being suspended now, are proposed to be used for biometric authentication of the beneficiaries in the door step delivery scheme also. Hon’ble Lt. Governor also stated that it is not clear how the issues now being raised in the operation of the e-PoS devices will be addressed there.
Hon’ble Lt. Governor also observed that the challenge in the proposed door step delivery would be to ensure that there are no malpractices as the human interface at the Fair Price Shop level would now be replaced by another human interface at the level of employees of the private vendor who would be engaged in door step delivery.
Hon’ble Lt. Governor stated that if the elected government is convinced that sufficient checks and balances have been put in place in the proposed door step delivery of ration scheme and the issue highlighted by him in the previous note have been addressed, he has no objection to the implementation of the same. However, the statutory requirement of seeking prior approval of Central Government under Section 12(2)(h) of the National Food Security Act, 2013 as pointed out by the Law Department in its note in the concerned File would have to be met before the scheme is implemented.
Finally, Hon’ble Lt. Governor hoped that action would be taken expeditiously by the elected government as per the advice of Law Department so that there is no further loss of time.