Bhubaneswar, Jul 18 (PTI) The Odisha government on Saturday decided to exempt biometric mode of authentication during the distribution of PDS commodities through e-PoS at fair price shops in view of COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department (FSCWD) in a letter to all district collectors has said that biometric mode of Aadhaar authentication using fingerprint scanner and IRIS device has been exempted, during distribution of public distribution system (PDS) ration through the e-PoS device at fair price shops.

Also Read | India's COVID-19 Recovery Rate Stands at 63%: Live Breaking News and Coronavirus Updates, July 18.

"The order of not using the biometric mode of Aadhaar authentication will remain in force till further order," FSCW minister R P Swain said.

In order to stop the spread of infection, it is suggested to avoid the biometric attendance and adopt a non- touch attendance management system, he said.

Also Read | TMC, BJP Workers Clash in North 24 Parganas Amid Rising Politician Tensions in West Bengal.

Health experts say the most common method of transmission of the virus seems to be through infected surfaces. Therefore, it is desirable to avoid touching surfaces, which might be infected due to human touch.

The department has also asked district collectors to direct all field officers and fair price shop dealers to continue with distribution through e-POS only in automated mode by maintaining social distancing norms and other COVID-19 guidelines.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)