Andhra Pradesh Food Commission (APFC) Chairman J.R. Pushpa Raj said here on Monday the Commission was booking cases suo motu in three instances of gross irregularities (brought to light by the media) in the implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and mid-day meal schemes and the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) that involved misappropriation of a few hundred crores of rupees.
The biggest scandal of them was the diversion of the PDS rice to foreign countries through the Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports, he said. Addressing the media along with Director of Civil Supplies G. Ravi Babu, Mr. Raj said the other two major frauds were the procurement of eggs for Anganwadi centres at ₹4.65 a piece against the stipulated ₹3.50 at a cost of ₹110 crore, and supply of substandard eggs under the mid-day meal scheme.
These frauds had adverse health outcomes for pregnants and lactating mothers and children apart from causing avoidable financial loss to the government, he said.
Mr. Pushpa Raj said the APFC enjoyed quasi-judicial powers equal to that of a civil court and it was striving for convergence with the activities of the State Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies Department as food was a Concurrent List subject.
He said the Food Commissions had been tasked with the implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 whereas the States’ own food-related departments were mandated to make the stakeholders comply with the respective Food Safety Acts.
Asked what was being done to check adulteration of food, Mr. Pushpa Raj said it was the domain of the State departments’ concerned as the Food Commissions were supposed to ensure the people were not deprived of their Constitutional right to food.
However, the A.P. Food Commission was cracking down on the adulteration which, he said, was thriving in Vijayawada and Guntur.