India - A step forward to eradicate hunger
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India has the world’s largest subsidized food scheme which provides affordable food to nearly the same number of people that live in the United States. This rationing system was first introduced in the 1940s and revived in the wake of an acute food shortage in the early 1960s.
In spite of the fact that the ration shops provided items such as wheat, rice, sugar and oil of poor quality, this food scheme was successful in aiding poor people in India who were in urgent need. However, keeping track of this food scheme wasn’t easy, as there were people who committed illegalities such as using multiple identities to achieve more than what they were provided. So on this account, the states of Indian government, with the support from United Nations World Food Programme have introduced a smart ration card system which uses biometric data such as fingerprints and eye scans.
This biometric smart ration card system has not been introduced in every Indian state yet, since the collection of nationwide census data has still not reached the authorities in some states. However, in states where this system had been introduced, it was found to be extremely successful in eradicating such illegalities and it had been reported that over 240,000 fake ration cards were detected while implementing this new system until the present. This system ensures subsidized food goes only to those entitled to it, and this would enable the state government to reach out to many more vulnerable people who are in urgent need.