Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: Taking cognizance of the problems being faced by some people in getting subsidized ration under the Food Security Act, Odisha government on Wednesday said that steps are being taken to facilitate beneficiaries.

"We are moving away from the thumb impression model to iris scans so that it could be more authentic," said Odisha Civil Supplies Minister, Ranendra Pratap Swain.

The government will soon bring in the iris scanning systems as it is aware of the problems being faced by labourers as their thumb impressions do not match sometimes, he said in the State Assembly today.

Earlier, Congress MLA Tara Bahinipati raised the issue and said, "Biometric machines fail to recognise the thumb impressions of the daily wage labourers since the lines on their thumbs often disappear due to rigorous menial labour."

He further said that such people have to run to block offices to get subsidized ration.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Bishnu Sethi also lashed out at the government alleging that people have been suffering for the last several years due to the technical glitch.

“Why should people be deprived of their rights for technical problems? The government must take immediate steps to resolve the issue,” said Sethi.

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