North Chennai ration shops under CCTV surveillance to prevent pilferage
The new initiative has been welcomed by the public. Those who are not aware of the shop timing can also track live when the shop would be open to procure products
CCTV camera installed in one of the PDS shop in north Chennai; a notice stuck on the door
CHENNAI: To prevent the smuggling of essential commodities and ensure equitable distribution at ration shops, the authority in Washermanpet has installed CCTV cameras at 23 PDS ration shops in north Chennai.
The new initiative has been welcomed by the public. Those who are not aware of the shop timing can also track live when the shop would be open to procure products.
“To reduce pilferage happening in the ration shop, CCTV cameras are installed at 23 shops in various areas including Royapuram, Vyasarpadi, Manali New Town, Muthamizh Nagar, and Periyar Nagar,” said Balaji, Managing Director of Washermanpet Cooperative Stores Society.
“After the installation of cameras at least 90 per cent of the pilferages have reduced. We were also able to rectify issues in the shop easily and monitor round the clock,” he added. Apart from the surveillance, we have shared the link with cardholders for tracking the shop timings and also the availability of essential commodities.
“A notice pasted outside the shop says that those who want to track information may contact the officer. The cardholders will be given a username and password.
After this initiative, we have been getting many complaints and it has been addressed immediately,” added Balaji.
The initiative has been welcomed by the cardholders of north Chennai who stated that they were unaware of the shop timings and things available.
“Most of the time, the staff would say that they don’t have stock of essential commodities such as wheat, palm oil, and sugar. We were clueless about whom to complain to, but after installing cameras we also got the link of the authority we had the higher authority contact. It has been easy to complain and the issue was rectified immediately,” said R Govarthangopal, a resident of Royapuram.
Another resident of north Chennai shared his experience at a ration shop in Mylapore where most of the ration billing staff come only after 10 am.
“Fixation of 360-degree cameras at the ration shops can prevent such illegal activities inside the shops. Using the technology cardholders can easily find out the stock of rice, sugar, and palm oil availability status. Also, the arrogant behaviour of the staff can be checked,” said R Ramesh, a resident of Old Washermanpet.
