Bhubaneswar: India’s first rice ATM was inaugurated by the Odisha food supplies and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra at a warehouse in the Mancheswar area of Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
The automated dispensing machine was set up for the supply of rice under the public distribution system (PDS) rice. Ration card holders have to enter their ration card number on the display monitor with a touch-screen and the machine will dispense rice after biometric authentication.
The consumers can avail a maximum of 25 kg of rice from the ATM. The service will be subsequently extended to all 30 districts of the state.
After the implementation of the rice ATMs across the state, the beneficiaries will no longer have to stand in long queues near the dealer. It is also expected that stealing and black-marketing will be checked.
“We tested the rice ATM for the beneficiaries. It is the first rice ATM in India which was inaugurated on a pilot basis. People need to get rice of proper weight. The rice ATM has been set up so that no one will be able to cheat the beneficiaries anymore,” said minister Patra.
“If the machine is successful here, it will be extended to every district and block across the state. People from other states can also take rice from the ATM under One Nation One Ration Card,” he added.
