The Department of Food and Public Distribution has launched a pilot to on-board Fair Price Shops on ONDC. As part of this pilot, 11 Fair Price Shops from Himachal Pradesh have got onboarded on ONDC. This is the first time Fair Price Shops (FPSs) have joined ONDC.
Five FPSs in Una and six FPSs in Hamirpur districts have got onboarded on ONDC.
Landmark initiative
Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India launched this pilot virtually on Wednesday. He said this landmark initiative is in line with the efforts of the Department in transforming the Fair Prices Shops and providing additional avenues of income generation for FPS dealers.
He said this will provide various benefits for FPS dealers including visibility in the digital marketplace, access to a larger customer base beyond NFSA beneficiaries, and the ability to compete on an equal footing with large retailers and e-commerce platforms. Additionally, beneficiaries who face difficulties in making online purchase can approach the FPS dealer to make online orders on their behalf, he added.
He highlighted that the success of the pilot being implemented in Himachal Pradesh will serve as a model for statewide and nationwide adoption in the future. MicroSave Consulting (MSC) is supporting in deploying this pilot programme.
