Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Tripura minister Sushanta Chowdhury said Wednesday that the state government would create a corporation to boost the public distribution system (PDS) and activities and services of the food and civil supplies department.
The food and civil supplies minister told reporters that while the department would continue to handle the PDS, the new corporation would do business and pay the employees’ salaries from its profit and that a civil servant would be appointed its managing director.
“Like they have the Food Corporation of India at the Centre, we will also have a corporation. It is a preliminary decision, the details will be decided later,” Chowdhury said, adding that the corporation would also participate in tenders and supply materials to other departments.
To provide doorstep ration delivery, the department is considering introducing Ration Mitra, especially for the aged and infirm who are not able to collect their ration, the minister said.
The department is working to distribute mustard oil at subsidised rates along with rice, kerosene, sugar, salt, etc, he said. In keeping with the Modi government’s millets policy, the state government is going to distribute millets to everyone through the PDS.
The department is also working on a host of other projects including introduction of small and smart ration cards and conversion of 765 fair-price shops to model ration shops with better infrastructure.
As many as 290 out of the 2,048 fair-price shops are run by women and 165 by cooperatives. The state has around 9.59 lakh ration card holders—including 1.88 lakh Antyodaya, 4.92 lakh priority-group, 2,882 Bru and 3.55 lakh APL card holders.
The minister said a recent review meeting revealed that 63,198 MT of fortified rice was available in the state, indicating 87 days of buffer stock. So were 51 days of wheat stock, 27 days’ sugar stock, 21 days’ lentil and pulses stock, 15 days’ salt stock, a week-long stock of petrol, six days’ diesel stock, four days’ kerosene stock and three days of LPG cylinder stock, according to the minister.
With the monsoon ahead, he warned black marketers of strict action and said enforcement teams would keep watch.
