The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Rid PDS of discrepancies: Minister

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Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Rid PDS of discrepancies: Minister

Staff Reporter

KARUR: Efforts should be made to ensure smooth functioning of the public distribution system, and officials should strive to clear discrepancies in the system, Food Minister A. V. Velu said on Monday.

Chairing a review meeting of District Supply Officers, the Joint Registrars of Cooperative societies and other officials concerned with the PDS in Karur, Perambalur and Namakkal districts, he said urgent efforts should be made to address any problem in the system. Officials should take the monthly grievances redress meetings and tackle the issues raised by the public. Solutions to the problems should be found at the earliest.

The public should bring any discrepancy or malpractice immediately to the notice of the district supply officers, or even to the Minister himself. Officials should discharge their duties with service-mindedness and ensure quality in the products supplied. Officials and PDS personnel should ensure that there was no role for brokers in any of the activities.

Misuse of kerosene

As for the Department of Food, Mr. Velu said officials in Namakkal had booked 55 cases of misuse of kerosene for operating lorries. Karur and Perambalur districts had not shown adequate interest in it. Similarly, lorry owners and crew should be sensitised regularly to the need for curbing smuggling of PDS rice and other commodities. Stringent action would be taken against those involved in smuggling of PDS commodities, he said.

District Supply Officers and TSOs should ensure that hotels and restaurants supplied meals for Rs. 20, a pair of idly for Rs. 8, vadai for Rs. 8 and pongal for Rs. 15 and furnish report to the Commissioner periodically.

The Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies should ensure enough stock of commodities in ration shops. They should also take action against chartered transporters who violated the route chart.

Bogus ration cards

Referring to the Food Cell CID, Mr. Velu said there was laxity on the part of the personnel in Perambalur district. While 12,235 bogus ration cards had been detected and cancelled in Namakkal district, 11,860 cards had been cancelled in Karur district. But in Perambalur district, officials had detected and cancelled only 2,810 cards. In Perambalur district, preventive detection was never resorted to during 2007-08; only two persons charged with offences under the Essential Commodities Act were arrested.

Food and Civil Supplies Secretary K. Shanmugam, Commissioner K. Rajaram, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation Managing Director Satya Prata Sahu, Registrar of Cooperative Societies Jitendranath Swain, Karur Collector T. N. Venkatesh and K. C. Palanisamy, MP, took part in the meeting.

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