THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The distribution of ration across the state got disrupted for the fourth consecutive day with the ePoS machines remaining unresponsive due to server issues. It has to be seen whether ration distribution will take place on Wednesday as officials have not yet resolved the issues.
People are suffering as the government is not attempting to find a permanent solution even after learning that incompetent servers are causing the troubles
Ration dealers closed their shops yesterday afternoon at the call of organizations following protests by cardholders in several places. The machines have been out of order since Friday.
Ration distribution was disrupted several times ever since the introduction of ePoS machines on January 16, 2018. This is the first time that ration distribution got disrupted for four consecutive days. The server used to get slow down when people come in large numbers to buy rations at the end of the month. This time, the server issue was reported in the second week of the month.
In September 2020, the distribution of ration kits, including free food kits, were disrupted for two days due to a server crash. Despite the then Civil Supplies Minister's word that the capacity of the server would be increased, no action was taken. The technical department of Civil Supplies said yesterday that the problem was almost fixed. However, the ePoS has not responded yet. More technicians have been deployed to look into the matter.