Food, civil supplies, and consumer protection minister Chhagan Bhujbal inaugurated the automated grain dispensing machine
The automated dispenser, located near the divisional commissioner’s office on Gorewadi Road at Nashik Road, is a joint initiative of the Maharashtra govt and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). It aims to remove time constraints associated with traditional fair price shops, streamline distribution and improve transparency in the state’s public welfare system.
Because of work commitments, he said the facility would particularly benefit working-class citizens and daily wage labourers who often miss ration shop timings.
Inaugurating the facility, food, civil supplies and consumer protection minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, “The government is committed to ensuring that eligible beneficiaries receive their rightful foodgrains with dignity and timeliness. They can simply decide their convenient timing, visit the facility and take home the grains allotted to them by the govt,” Bhujbal said. “The beneficiaries only need to have their Aadhaar number, ration card and present biometrics to receive the food grains,” Bhujbal said.
The grain ATM is a significant milestone toward building a transparent, fast, and beneficiary-centric system. “Now the beneficiaries need not align themselves as per the time table of the shopkeepers.