New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS): The Union government on Tuesday launched a pilot to transform 60 fair price shops in the country as Jan Poshan Kendra.

The pilot to be run in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh will provide a solution to the demand of Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers across India to raise their income level.

Launching the pilot, Union Minister of Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi said that the Jan Poshan Kendra will offer a diverse range of nutrition-rich food items to consumers as well as provide an additional source of income to the FPS dealers.

The Jan Poshan Kendra which was taken up as part of the first 100 days programme of the Central Government will have provision for storing 50 per cent products under the category of nutrition while the rest for keeping other household items.

Venkatesh also launched the FPS Sahay application, Mera Ration app 2.0, quality management system (QMS), quality manual handbook, contract manual of Food Corporation of India (FCI), and NABL accreditation of three laboratories in the national capital today.

“All the six programmes launched will further strengthen the food security ecosystem while bringing in transparency, ensuring strict quality control, curb malnutrition, and also prevent leakages in the system,” Joshi said, adding it will also help boost digitalisation efforts

FPS-Sahay is an on-demand Invoice Based Financing (IBF) application, developed by SIDBI, and aims to offer completely paperless, presence-less, collateral-free, cash flow-based financing to FPS dealers.

The Mera Ration App 2.0 is a mobile app launched with more value-added features and QMS is a vital tool for the quality control labs. It can capture all key transactions in real-time during the stages of procurement, storage, and distribution.

The handbook of quality control was formulated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution to give a precise description of the various procedures, standards, roadmap, and policies to be adopted to ensure strict quality standards.

The minister further stated that the country is moving towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047, with initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

He noted that PMGKAY has been extended for another five years with an estimated financial outlay of around Rs 12 lakh crore to increase the ambit of food security in the country.

Another such initiative is the One Nation One Ration Card which is already facilitating seamless transactions across the country, Joshi said.