Tamil Nadu minister: Digital copy or card number with biometrics enough at fair price shops

Tamil Nadu Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P. Venkataramanan said in the State Assembly that card holders no longer need to produce the original smart card to draw essential commodities at fair price shops. Instead, they can show a digital copy or provide the card number along with their biometric data, the minister said while speaking on demands for the Food department. He also stated that card holders can draw commodities from any shop of their choice, giving the example of a traveller drawing goods from a shop in the vicinity. During the discussion, MLAs S. Kamaraj of Mannargudi and K. Karthikeyan of Kallakurichi raised concerns about lack of internet connectivity at fair price shops in far-flung areas of their constituencies. Kamaraj questioned whether the old method would continue in such situations, though his full remark was not reported.