Bhubaneswar: The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department Saturday said that it has halted the practice of using biometrics for Aadhar authentication for PDS distribution in light of the COVID 19 pandemic.
The plan is to reduce surface contacts from the same source to reduce chances of the spread of COVID 19, said Ranendra Pratap Swain, Minister for Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare.
“In view of the COVID19 pandemic, biometric mode of Aadhar authentication using finger print scanner and IRIS device has been exempted during distribution of PDS ration through e-PoS device at Fair Price Shops until further orders,” Swain said.
Odisha Saturday reported 591 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally in the state to 16,701. Out of the 591 new cases, 394 were reported from quarantine centres while 197 are local contacts.
The total number of active cases in the state now stands at 5,259.
PNN