You must have seen money being withdrawn from an ATM, but have you ever seen grains being withdrawn from an ATM? Rice will now be dispensed from Rice ATMs in Odisha. In fact, a major technological development in the food sector has given India its first ‘Rice ATM’. Odisha Government’s Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krishna Chandra Patra launched India’s first Rice ATM on Thursday in a warehouse in Mancheshwar area of Bhubaneswar.
Ration card holders can withdraw 25 kg rice at a time through Rice ATM. When the ration card holder will enter the ration card number on the touch screen display of the Rice ATM, he will be able to withdraw rice from the Rice ATM only after biometric authentication.
Food Supply Minister Patra said that the Rice ATM was tested for ration card beneficiaries and it is the first Rice ATM in India. If it is successful, then similar Rice ATMs will be installed in all the district headquarters in the coming days.
With this, the beneficiaries will be able to get rice in the right weight and will not have to stand in long queues for ration. It will also help in protecting against any kind of possible fraud and getting rid of fraudulent rice dealers. This Rice ATM has been launched in Bhubaneswar on a pilot basis. There is a plan to open it in all 30 districts of Odisha. If successful, this model can potentially be extended to other states under the One Nation One Ration Card scheme.
Projects included in agreements with WFP
Let us tell you that the Odisha government had signed several partnership agreements with the World Food Program (WFP) in the year 2021. Some of the projects to be started under these include distribution system, paddy procurement, grain ATM, smart mobile storage unit.