Vellore officials to seek exemption from biometric in PDS due to server glitches

It may be recalled that the state switched over to the biometric scanning method to distribute monthly rations to nearly 1.90 crore consumers some months ago.

However, right from the start, the move was affected by technical glitches resulting in consumers having to wait for hours at ration shops to get their essentials.

When the state announced Pongal gift hamper to consumers, officialdom switched over to old manual system fearing that biometric machine glitches could affect distribution of the gift hampers.

However, Vellore district switched back to the biometric scanning method for distribution of commodities in fair price shops from Monday with the same effect. The server was jammed due to system overload affecting consumers.

Enquiries revealed that a software team was working in Chennai to iron out the glitches which, according to official sources, was due to all machines in Tamil Nadu starting to work simultaneously. An additional fact was that government offices too had switched over to biometric attendance and these machines too added to the overload resulting in the system crashing.

Asked if it affected distribution of essential commodities to consumers, sources revealed that most rural areas were not affected as consumers had drawn their rations with the Pongal gift. “It was only in urban areas like Vellore where only the Pongal gift was issued but not monthly rations. Hence when consumers tried to get their monthly rations they were unable to do so due to this issue. We are now thinking of talking to authorities in Chennai seeking relaxation from using biometric machines as only then will we able to distribute pending monthly rations,” said the authorities.