AGARTALA, Dec 7 � Tripura today opposed Centre�s plan for direct cash transfer to the bank accounts of the customers of fair price shop for giving subsidy on the plea that it would cripple the existing Public Distribution System (PDS).
�I have written a letter to the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister KV Thomas to withdraw the proposal for direct subsidy cash transfer and also clarify in detail how the new system would help the poor,� State Food and Civil Supply Minister Manik De said.
The new system would be introduced in 51 districts of the country and the four districts of Tripura were also included among them.
De said the State Government has received a communication from the Centre that all the card holders of ration shops should make their bank accounts for transferring the cash subsidy. �It is difficult to get new bank accounts within January and also include their Aadhar (UID) numbers and send it to the Centre. In rural areas the banks are inadequate in number. The new system would leave us into inconveniences�, he told reporters.
Militant surrender: CRPF constable turned rebel, Chitta Debbarma, carrying a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head as the self-styled �chief of staff� of the militant All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) has surrendered to the Assam Rifles in Dhalai district.
Debbarma, alias Bikash, surrendered to the Assam Rifles without arms yesterday at Raisyabari along with three tribal girl collaborators, police sources said today.
He was instrumental in the merger of ATTF with banned outfit National Liberation Front of Tripura about three years ago.
Debbarma had joined the ATTF in the eighties and was a close aide of the chief of the outfit, Ranjit Debbarma.
He married a tribal woman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, who was killed on July 12 by insurgent leader Sachindra Debbarma and an accomplice. � PTI
