Under PDS, TN to door deliver essentials to the elderly, disabled

CHENNAI: In a first for the state, the Tamil Nadu government is gearing up to launch a door-to-door delivery service of essential commodities such as rice, sugar, wheat, palmolein oil and toor dal under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to cater to those facing difficulties in accessing the fair price shops for their supplies.
In the first phase, the scheme will cover around 15 lakh of the roughly 2.21 crore ration cardholders, focusing on those cardholding families that have only senior citizens aged 70 and above or persons with disabilities (PwDs) with no other family members available in a capacity to visit the shops for procurement.
Beneficiaries will include both Priority Household (PHH) and Non-Priority Household (NPHH) cardholders. The proposed home delivery of commodities in Tamil Nadu, expected to start in July or August, will be implemented by the cooperation department using various vehicles such as maxi trucks, mini trucks and vans.
A similar scheme, which was launched in Andhra Pradesh by the previous YSRCP government in 2021, was discontinued in May this year due to issues, including frequent failure of biometric authentication, irregularities in delivery and high operational costs.
Chief Secretary N Muruganandam recently held a detailed review meeting with officials from the civil supplies and cooperation departments at the secretariat. According to official sources, the final list of beneficiaries is being finalised at the moment.

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