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Rangiya admn bid to streamline PDS

By Correspondent

RANGIYA, Jan 11 � The PDS in India was introduced with the objective of providing subsidised foodgrains and other items of daily necessity such as sugar, kerosene, etc., especially to the weaker sections of the population. In Assam, the Public Distribution System (PDS) is a major instrument of the Government�s poverty eradication programme. Keeping this in view, for a transparent Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Assam Public Distribution of Articles Order 1982 covered by the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, with the objective of attaining the PDS implementation properly, the Rangiya civil administration and Supply department led by SDO (Civil), Varnali Deka has taken several steps to streamline the system.

At times, shortfalls have been observed in the system like the PDS items not reaching the intended beneficiaries due to pilferage, ignorance, lack of proper storage, problems of stockouts, infrequent timings of Fair Price Shops (FPS), problems at the level of Gram Panchayat Samabay Samities and Wholesale Cooperative Consumers Societies (WCCS), diversion of commodities etc. The Rangiya administration in this regard has taken up moves for the elimination of all fake Family Identity Cards (FICs) through process of comparison with the 2011 Voters List and dropped the names after due process of issuuing show cause to the concerned. So far around 850 such cards have been detected. Absentee cards are also being eliminated. Besides, cards are being streamlined and attempts are on to ensure correctness between the households and listed FIC beneficiaries. Raids and surprise checks are being conducted by supply officials led by SDO(C), Deka on Fair Price Shops, GPSS and WCCS. On 19/12/12, surprise checks were conducted on a number of FPS, under Madhukuchi, Karara and Pati Darrang GPSS owned by Hiteswar Deka, Karnadhar Deka, Lanke Deka, Ganeswar Deka and Hiren Deka, of Sajei Dagaon, Tarani Deka and Nitya Barua of Bihdia-Belkona, Bhabesh Deka, Bharat Deka, Bhumidhar Deka of Muktapur (Loch) etc. Again on 4/1/2013, surprise inspections were carried out on a number of FPS in Rangia town area, including those owned by Sunil Dutta, Ram Das, Nanigopal Aise, Neelkrishna Das, Subal Das, Sasnu Kumar Das, Dwijendra Kumar Das, Rekib Ali, Yesmin Sultana, Giribala Choudhury etc.

Though the timings of these FPS have been fixed by administration, some of the shops were found shut. Other major and minor irregularities were found including no display board for name, stock board missing or not updated, discrepancies in stock, stock and sale registers not maintained etc. The SDO (C) also spoke to the beneficiaries at various places. In some cases, there were complaints of stockouts or of not getting designated quantities of commodities. In one case, it was quite surprising to see that there was no existence of a separate shop but was being run from a hotel. Showcauses have been issued and action will be taken against FPS licensees under the �Assam Public Distribution of Articles Order 1982 � including cancelation of licenses, issue of warnings etc.

Trainings will be organised for FPS owners regarding their responsibilities � including proper account maintenance, storage of articles, distribution as per entitlement, timely lifting etc under the aegis of the Supply Department and Rangia civil administration, since FP shops form a very important node in the PDS and are the main point of interaction with the public. Also, to ensure quick Grievance Redressal, Deka has urged the public to contact at 03621 240420 for any complaints, queries to bring more transparency into the system.

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