India Launches Grain ATMs
Chhattisgarh has rolled out its first three 24/7 automated ‘Annapurti Grain ATMs’, allowing eligible residents to collect their monthly rice quota whenever it suits them, rather than lose hours waiting at ration shops.
Footage shows one of the machines in Raipur in action, with users entering their ration card details and scanning their fingerprint before the system automatically dispenses their allotted rice into a sack below.
For beneficiary Santhoshi Sahoo, the biggest difference is time. She says collecting the household ration used to mean sacrificing an entire day of work.
“We used to wait in line from morning until evening. But now we can come here and buy rice immediately,” she explained.
Faster Food Access
The Birgaon machine can hold around 2,500kg of rice and is run by the Jyoti Women’s Self-Help Group, putting local women at both ends of the new system, as operators and beneficiaries.
“It runs 24 hours. We can’t tell exactly how much it’s dispensing. It depends on the public and how many are coming. We won’t be able to give exact numbers. We will be able to do it when the public comes,” noted Himant Devang, a member of Jyoti Women’s Self Help Group.
Users can collect their entitlement after biometric verification, cutting out manual weighing and allowing them to access the service outside conventional ration-shop hours.
Modernising Food Distribution
“This is a new technique which will make our lives easier. Since it is a new technique, there will be some shortcomings. We should focus on fixing those shortcomings and try to make it better,” said one beneficiary.
The three machines were rolled out in Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur in August as part of an upgrade to Chhattisgarh’s Public Distribution System, designed to make food distribution faster, more accessible and less dependent on fixed opening hours.
Article by Viory
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