A state department of food and public distribution plans to transition its rural Public Distribution System (PDS) to a fully digitized Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to curb grain leakage. However, an administrative feasibility report highlights three major constraints: 45% of targeted rural pockets lack stable telecom connectivity, over 30% of elderly beneficiaries face biometric authentication failures, and local fair-price shop operators express strong resistance due to technical illiteracy. If the state proceeds without addressing these bottlenecks, severe exclusion of genuinely eligible households is anticipated. Which of the following implementation strategies provides the most administratively feasible and high-impact policy approach?
- AImmediately mandate 100% online biometric authentication across all districts and suspend grain allocations to non-compliant shops to enforce strict system adherence.
- Implement a phased hybrid rollout that allows offline-capable device verification and non-biometric proxy overrides backed by social audits, while concurrently upgrading telecom infrastructure in weak connectivity pockets.Cevap
- CIndefinitely defer the digital transformation policy and revert entirely to unmonitored manual paper registers across all rural districts.
- DAssume market forces will compel beneficiaries to purchase personal smartphones for self-verification within six months, delaying food grain distribution until universal smartphone ownership is recorded.