The enforcement wing set up in the Civil Supplies Department to check diversion of commodities in the public distribution system (PDS), mainly rice, and other irregularities has acted as a deterrent and prevented the misuse to the tune of ₹500 crore.
Commissioner of Civil Supplies C.V. Anand, who reviewed the performance of the enforcement wing here on Sunday, said the ‘experiment’ was initiated on February 1 last year with five teams comprising retired officials from the police, revenue, commercial taxes and other departments to check irregularities in processing, transportation and quality norms. The new initiative had prevented diversion of rice to the black market and saved ₹500 crore to the exchequer.
“It has also helped in curbing corruption, pilferages and malpractices to a large extent in the supply of essential commodities including rice”, Mr. Anand said adding that the expenditure on the team of officers selected “taking into consideration their employment history, honesty, commitment and hard work” was mere ₹1.25 crore for the past one year.
He explained that the enforcement teams were given the responsibility of preventing illegal movement of PDS rice, check on government and private godowns, vehicle checking in two stages, changes in transactions before and after introduction of the ePOS machines, performance of GPS and supply chain management.
The teams had conducted 843 raids and special checks on mandal-level godowns, fair price shops, custom milled rice mills, institutions getting supply of super fine (‘sanna biyyam’) quality rice, LPG godowns and others during the last one year.
Stating that the inspection had resulted in booking of 165 cases under Section 6(A) of the Essential Commodities Act and 71 criminal cases, the Civil Supplies Commissioner noted that the team had also seized 12,619 quintals of PDS rice, 2,619 quintals of custom-milled rice and paddy worth ₹3.60 crore. Further, the checks had also resulted in seizure of sugar, LPG cylinders, kerosene and other commodies worth ₹3.90 lakh.
Besides, the surprise checks and inspections, helped the department detect shortage and prevented the misappropriation of paddy, sanna biyyam and PDS rice to the extent of ₹6.39 crore. With the vigil maintained by the enforcement teams the district collectors of Khamman, Nalgonda and Suryapet had registered four preventive detention cases against traders, Mr. Anand explained.
