Smart Ration Card in Tamil Nadu: As an initiative towards digitization, Tamil Nadu government has launched Smart Family Card Scheme to make the ration cards in Tamil Nadu digital. Under the scheme, about 1.89 crore ration cards in TN are to be replaced by smart cards at the cost of Rs. 330 crore.
Smart Ration Card in Tamil Nadu
The scheme will not interrupt the consumer, they can use the old ration card to buy commodities at PDS outlets until they receive the smart card. After receiving an SMS on their registered mobile number, the card holder can obtain their smart card from their respective PDS outlets. The SMS for a smart card would be sent by the authorities to the card holder’s mobile number.
Toll free helpline number of Tamil Nadu Public Works Department:
1967 or 1800-425-5901
APPLY ONLINE: Apply Online for Smart Ration Card
TRACK STATUS: Track Status of Smart Ration Card
CORRECTION: Edit / Update Smart Ration Card Details
The government is creating a new database of ration card holders by collecting their Aadhaar card details. Of 6.90 crore members of ration cards, the government has collected the Aadhar details of about 5.85 crore.
These Smart Cards are being produced on the basis of Card holder’s Aadhar information and the expenditure on the distribution of these cards will be borne by the state government. Smart card scheme is the computerization of the Public Distribution System which is now becoming a reality and the scheme will benefit the public in different ways.
The scheme will stop the duplication of cards. Besides, it will ensure the distribution of PDS commodities to the deserving person and also stop the bogus billings. Under the scheme, the monitoring of allocation of commodities to PDS outlets and movement of essential commodities from warehouses to outlets will be done.
All the task such as new card application, addition or deletion of members and change of address can be done online. Smart card scheme was announced by former CM late Jayalalithaa in 2012 with the plan to make the PDS computerized. An amount of Rs. 5,500 crore is being allocated annually for the Food department as a subsidy.
For more details, visit the official TNPDS website at https://tnpds.gov.in/