Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Odisha government will soon launch ATMs to dispense PDS items to beneficiaries of the Food Securities Act as informed by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak in the State Assembly.
According to the reports, Minister Nayak said that the government has drawn up a plan in this regard. The ‘grain ATM’ will be opened in the urban areas of the state initially, the minister said it will be made available to the beneficiaries in Bhubaneswar on a pilot basis. Under the facility, a special code card would be provided to the beneficiaries to avail of the service.
It may be mentioned that the state government had signed agreements with the World Food Programme (WFP) to launch six projects in 2021. These include public distribution systems (PDS), paddy procurement, grain ATM and smart mobile storage units.
