Fair Price Shops

Fair Price Shops | Features | Cost

Fair Price Shops are very common in India. We often find one fair price shop, commonly known as ration shops, in every locality of urban, semi-urban and rural areas. There are many people who experience hard times while purchasing their day to day necessary goods like rice, sugar, wheat, flour and others. Fair Price Shops are the cheap stores that give immense subsidies on these necessary commodities. Runs by government ration shops offer almost half and sometimes less than half price for all the products. FPs has been started for the people who belong to economically backward classes, but unfortunately people who are well capable of buying things from market are purchasing food commodities from there as well in half prices. This leads to expansion of black markets. But as a whole the FPSs are the best place for the poor people to get their daily food needs.

Fair Price Shops

Features of Fair Price Shops

  • Fair Price Shops are the part of public distribution system. Operated by government it offers daily food products like rice, oil, sugar, wheat, flour, match box, exercise books, soap, shampoo and lot more other daily useful commodities in mush lower price than the market price.
  • FPS can be locally found. One needs to issue a ration card on his and his entire family’s name to buy products from ration shops. The cards need to be updated every time they buy something from the FPS.
  • The products under fair price shop come from the government. Technically the government of India buys the commodities from the farmers directly in their desirable prices and sell them through FPS in half price so that people who are unable to buy things from market due to high price can avail these necessary products.
  • The biggest advantage of fair price shop is it never increases the price of the products. As the shops offer necessary products at subsidised price, they never raise the price of any good. This is the reason why it is called fair price shops.
  • In recent times fair price shops have introduced biometric system through which the process of buying things from ration shops will be much easier for the people. Also this won’t allow the black marketers to buy things from FPS.

Biometric System in FPS

As per the government plans, a biometric system in all the fair price shops will be launched soon, preferably by this year. The aim of introducing biometric system in ration shops is to check on the black marketing and of course tracking the people purchasing things from ration shops.

In recent times we have seen that the government has keen to start a many systems that involve digitization. Be it a start up portal or online registration for several schemes, the GoI is promoting digital India in full swing. This biometric system is also a major part of digital India. Under this each time when a person buys things from ration shops will have to use his/her thumbs print on a biometric machine to record his history like the signed receipt copies.

This system will not only help to track the buyers and their requirements but also it will help to prevent irregularities that occur in the PDS and FPS.

Issues related to Biometric System

No service under government comes with hassle free process. The biometric system is no different either. According to the new Food Security Act, BPL card holders are considered among chosen priority families. Due to this norm the government freezes the issuing of new ration and BPL cards in many cities. In Delhi, there are 73 lakh people who are in need of ration shops. As per the biometric system capacity, over 2300 shops will have the provision of using biometric system which will cover nearly 19 lakh people across Delhi. That means only 44% of the total needy people. So the rest of the people will not get the provision of biometric system which will definitely create a rift within the system.

Features of Fair Price Shop:

Nature Subsidised food and necessary products’ shop
Operates by Government of India
Price of goods Half or less than that of the market price
Products Rice, wheat, flour, match box, oil, soap, exercise books, sugar and lot more daily necessary products
Documents to use Ration Card and BPL Card
New feature Biometric System

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