In response to complaints that ration card holders in Tripura’s Khowai district have not received their last month’s quota of atta, Food Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Wednesday assured that the ration card holders would receive the flour as soon as possible.
Earlier this month, Nirmal Biswas, an MLA from the Opposition CPM, wrote to Chowdhury that card holders in Khowai received maida and semolina but not atta during Durga Puja.
Chowdhury said the state government had, for the first time, provided free 1 kg of sugar, 2 kg of maida and 500 g of semolina to nearly 9.83 lakh ration card holders across the state during Durga Puja.
Chowdhury further explained that not all of the state’s 2,079 ration shops have the same storage capacity.
“We spoke to the department concerned, which later contacted the local SDM. It was found that people were in a rush during Durga Puja, and as a result, they had to store the free PDS materials quickly, which is why the flour could not arrive on time. However, I assure you that ration card holders will receive their flour soon,” the minister said.