Automated Ration Distribution:Addressing Challenges in Food Distribution System

India's Public Distribution System (PDS) is a government policy that distributes commodities to needy people at fixed rates. However, manual intervention in weighing materials leads to inaccurate measurements and illegal use of consumer materials. At present, we have a system where the products are manually forwarded to the consumer by scanning their ration card and by verifying their fingerprint. But this was not enough for the corruption to stop. So, a system has been proposed where there will be a two-step verification as usual. But, when the step to handle the commodity comes, we use automation instead of manual labor. Consumers are provided with an RFID card that acts as a ration card with a unique identification number. The RFID card is scanned by an RFID reader interfaced with a microcontroller at a ration shop. The system then asks for the customer’s fingerprint, and it identifies whether the fingerprint matches the card. If both matches then the system automatically activates after verifying the consumer's allotted amount of rice, wheat, and sugar. The consumer receives the products when they provide their bowl or cover at the bottom of the container. The motor at the entry point rotates, such that the selected item falls into the main outlet, and the consumer gets the material by weighing it on the load cell. A confirmation message is sent to the consumer's mobile number upon successful completion of the purchase. It is much more efficient than the manual system as it reduces labor costs and also stops the way to smuggle goods.