Mechanized Government Rationing System

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International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Systems (IJEECS)

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1PriyankaV. Mane, ²Uroosa Hippargi

1,2E&TC Department, Student,

1,2International Institute of Information Technology Savitribai Phule Pune University Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Email: ¹[email protected], ²[email protected]

Abstract---Public distribution system is an important part in the delivery of ration to the people of India. This report presents brief overview about the automation of this distribution system. Automation in the public distribution system allows utilities to implement flexible control of distribution systems, which can be used to enhance efficiency, reliability and quality of service. This automation system replaces the existing manual ration card system into much more secure and time saving system. Here instead of a Ration card, an Aadhar card will be used for the purpose of authorization. UID Number from the Aadhar Card will be acquired and then the person’s finger print will be matched for authentication.

Lastly the person will also have to enter a security pin.

Thus, it consists of three step authentication service, an interactive GUI, a centralized database and a GSM module which will eradicate a lot of shortcomings present in the existing system.

Keywords--- Aadhar Card, Rationing System, GSM, PDS, UID.

I. INTRODUCTION

Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food distribution security system. It was established by the Government of India under The ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and managed jointly with state Government of India. Public Distribution System in the country facilitates the supply of food grains to the poor at a subsidized price.

Essential items such as selected cereals, sugar and kerosene at subsidized prices to holders of ration cards is the objective of efficient Public Distribution System. Established by the Government of India, it distributes subsidized food and non-food items to the poor population in India. Food Corporation of India (FCI) moves the commodities and ensures its availability at various FCI godowns and depots for

onward distribution within the state. Sale of commodities to ration card holders is achieved through government approved fair price shops. For availing these services provided by the Government of India, a person needs to have a Ration Card. Ration cards are issued by the State Food Department based on the beneficiary identification criteria decided by the government. This ration card is given to a person having his own house i.e.

a permanent resident address. The color of the Ration card is decided on the basis of the income of that person.

The different colors issued are navy blue, white and orange for categories BPL (Below Poverty Line), AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana), APL (Above Poverty Line) respectively by the central government. However, the food grains supplied by the ration shops are not enough to meet the consumption needs of the poor or may be subjected to adulteration by middlemen, thus deteriorating their original quality.

II. CURRENTSITUATION OFPDSIN INDIA

The public distribution system of India is not without its defects. With a coverage of around 40 crore below- poverty-line (BPL) families, a review of the PDS has discovered ample of structural short comings and disturbances. The targeted PDS is costly and gives rise to much corruption in the process of extricating the poor from those who are less needy. The Planning Commission (2008) has estimated how much of the TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System) rice and wheat are leaked. Half the TPDS grains are leaked before reaching consumers which reflects inefficacy, corruption and theft on a huge scale [1].Limited information about the overall use of cards has discouraged BPL families from registering for new cards and increased illegal creation of cards by such families to ensure maximum benefit for the family members.

Deceitful dealers replace goods up plies received from the F.C.I by inferior stock and sell the FCI stock in the

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black market. Illicit fair price shop owners have been found to create large number of bogus cards to sell food grains in the open market. Numerous malpractices make safe and nutritious food in accessible and unaffordable to many poor thus resulting in their food in security.

Identification of households to be denoted status and distribution to granted PDS services has been highly irregular and diverse in various states. Hence to improve the current PDS some changes needs to be inculcated.

The recent development of Aadhar UIDAI cards has taken up the challenge of solving the problem of identification and distribution PDS services along with Direct Cash Transfers. Regional allocation and coverage of FPS are unsatisfactory and the core objective of price stabilization of essential commodities has not been met. Incorporating the same concept, this paper proposes a need of automated ration shop where manual work in public distribution system is replaced by automated rather a mechanized system which will be installed at the ration shop. The objective behind the design is to use latest technologies to automate manual processes and ensure optimum usage of privileges provided by government to poor people.

The Government should have control over all transactions which happen at ration shop so it will be connected to government database via GSM module.

The person will be given ration after 3 step authentication. If he is found authorized then user interface will allow him to buy ration also display the bill. After paying the bill, ration will be dispensed and Govt. Database will be updated accordingly. The ideaisto develop a fair and time saving system.

III. ADVANTAGES OFTHE PROPOSED SYSTEM

This new design concept has following advantages:

 Use of existing Aadhar card eliminates the need to design a special smart card.

 Fully automated system which reduces human efforts.

 No human intervention.

 3step authentication processes when taking in put allows only the authorized person to take ration hence bogus card owners are not allowed to take ration.

 Food grains will be directly supplied from the FCI.

adulteration or inferior stock and black marketing practices.

 Assessment by vigilance squad member eradicates poor supervisory and accountability and will also expel corruption.

 Hoarding at PDS Stores, that causes price hike, can be prevented.

 Migrant workers, also illiterate crowd can avail the benefits of this system due to the use of audio system (in national language Hindi) that guides throughout the process.

 The use of interactive GUI (displays rate chart and quantity available) allows the user to decide the quantity as per his requirement and based on his income.

 Hi Tech Security from theft and other malpractices.

 Cost effective method.

 Transparent transactions and operations.

 Time saving approach.

 It will not cause any losses to Government.

 Better Quality of supply

 Better service reliability

IV. SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

Fig.1. Block Diagram of the Proposed System

V. SYSTEM DESIGN

A finger print scanner, a QR cum barcode scanner and a keypad will be interfaced with the micro controller. The

QR/Barcode scanner

Fingerprint Scanner

Keypad for Ration No.

Database Speaker

Debit card swipe machine Receipt

printer

Processor

Consumer Phone GSM interface GSM

GUI Power Supply

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a QR cum Barcode Scanner, the Aadhar card number is detected. The extracted UID is then matched with the database. The database consists of different attributes related to the person like his name, mobile number, fingerprint details, address, bank account number, ration card number. The database will also contain the format of the limit pre-allotted by the Government which is based on income of a person. This information will be stored per family and can also be retrieved whenever required. The database will be centralized for city where the system will be setup. Thus, the ration limit of the respective person will be acquired. If the person is found both authorized and authenticated, his identity will be displayed on the graphical user interface. He will be asked to enter the quantity of ration which should not exceed his limit. Depending upon that limit, the grain quantity to be dispensed is decided. The word Automation means doing the particular task automatically in a sequence with faster operation rate.

This requires the use of microprocessor together with communication network and relevant software programming[4]. The programming for the processor will be designed likewise.

The hardware module will comprise of relay circuit, containers along with detection setup for each..Relay are used to control a circuit by a low-power signal or where several circuits must be controlled by one signal.A relay is an electrically operated switch. The hardware consists of containers whichwillstorethree grains and two fluidswhich are mainly distributed by the PDS. It will also havean outlet switch i.e.a valve through whichthe grains will fall. Solenoid valves can be used to start or stop the flow of liquid. Usually, a 2-way valve is referred to as a 2/2 valve, which means the valve has two ports and two positions. The positions are: 1) on or energized and 2) off or de-energized [7].The IR sensor will detect the presence of the container. A loadcell is attachedto each ofthe containers placed. Analog output from the loadcell will be given to the ADC so that it can be viewed as digital data. The load cell, interfaced with the micro-controller/ Processor, will continuously measure the quantity of grains falling from the container. Depending upon the value, the quantity to be dispensed can be known. The microcontroller will take a value from load cells and provide signal conditioning.

Signal conditioning is provided to make the inlet on and off with the help of relay mechanism[2],[5].If relay is on means the inlet is ON i.e. theinlet is open else it is OFF

i.e. the inlet is closed and grains will stop falling from the container.

Central database would be updated immediately after every transaction made by the user. A GSM Module is used to exchange the information in the form of SMS between microcontroller assembly and central database provided by the government. It should be able to receive messages from government database and also be able to store/forward it to microcontroller[6]. The updated account information will be sent to the consumer’s mobile using a GSM Module.

Thus the ration is thus delivered to the person with minimum or no human interference. Thus corruption is reduced and persongets exact quantityof ration as decided by the government.

VI. WORKING

1. This system includes three step authentications, which includes QR cum Barcode scanner, finger print scanner and keypad for entering the ration card number. The user will be found authorized if all above criteria are met.

2. The Extracted data will be matched with the data base which will be regional. If the entry is found valid the GUI will display the ration card type and quantity according to his income.

(Processing willbedonebasedon PDS chart and customer information)

3. The person will select the ration goods and their respective quantities.

4. Then an itemized bill along with rates and total bill of selected commodities will be displayed.

The dispensing of grains will start only after the payment is procured.

5. User will pay by a debit card through the swipe machine[3], once the bill is paid micro controller will give signal andthe machine will start dispensing food grains.

6. After the process is complete, a message will be sent to registered mobile number of the user, to inform him that his ration for the month has been taken.

7. Government database will then be updated.

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VII. PROJECT FLOW

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Fig.2. Flow Chart of the Proposed System

VIII. CONCLUSION

This paper is for a proposed system which automates the process of ration distribution by the government. Efforts have been made to design this system which will overcome all the drawbacks present in traditional i.e.

Current Public Distribution System. This presented system possesses many strong features like accuracy, authentication, convenience, minimum human interference etc. By automating the entire process, the Government can have access towards the process and will also provide a great change towards PDS outlook.

The three step user authentication and also Hi-tech security from theft and other malpractices makes it more reliable.

The design contains elements that are affordable for actual implementation. Corruption can be eradicated and

Indian economy can be boosted to new heights. In this system, the power is in system’s hand rather than any human being so that the occurrence of fraud can be removed easily. The proposed rationing system is devoid of the requirement of Govt. appointed ration shop owner, maintenance of receipts and ration card and also the possibility of hoarding. Also uneducated or illiterate people can also easily work with the GUI due the Hindi audio assistance provided. People can take the ration goods easily and securely by using this mechanized system.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We, the authors, are highly indebted to the anonymous reviewers of this paper for taking time to analyze the content and giving helpful suggestions for making this a better piece.

REFERENCES

[1] Peter Svedberg; “Reforming or Replacing the Public Distribution System with Cash Transfers”

[2] A.N. Madur, Sham Nayse, “Automation in Rationing System Using Arm7”, International Journal of Innovative Research In Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation And Control Engineering,Vol.1, Issue4, July2013

[3] Vikram Singh, ”Smart Ration Card”, Journal of Global Research in Computer Science. Vol.

No.4, April 2013

[4] Palak Parikh, “Distribution System Automation”.

[5] A. N. Madur“Replacing Traditional PDS with Smart PDS”, International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, a Volume 3, Issue 12, December2013

[6] S. Vennal Venkatraman, “Ration Whiz”,International Journal of Emerging Technology in Computer Science & Electronics (IJETCSE)ISSN: 0976-1353 Volume 8 Issue 1 – April 2014.

[7] Dhanoj Mohan, Rathikarani, Gopakumar,

“Automation of Ration Shop Using Plc”, International Journal of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER) Vol. 3, Issue. 5, Sep - Oct.

2013 pp-2971-2977 ISSN: 2249-66

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