Smart Cards replacing old ration cards in Haryana

GURGAON: Old ration cards in Haryana have now given way to Smart Cards, benefiting the poor as well as the state exchequer.

The project has been started in Haryana's four blocks of Ambala, Sonepat, Sirsa and Gharaunda on pilot basis and will cover the entire state by June 2013, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary of Food and Supplies Department Shakuntala Jakhu said.

The smart cards, which would be linked to the Unique Identification Card (UIC), would usher an era of transparency in Public Distribution System (PDS), she said.

Huge quantities of essential commodities were reaching black market resulting in massive loss to the exchequer. Now, the new cards will check corruption and put an end to the problems faced by the consumers.

The central government has chosen Haryana and Chandigarh UT for the preparation of smart cards in place of ration cards as a pilot project.