It is not often that clerical cadres are called upon to bring their brawny side to the job.
During the lockdown, a section of the administrative staff of the Civil Supplies department doubled up as loadmen as they collected rice stocks from the godown of the Food Corporation of India in the city and carried out doorstep delivery of the essential commodity to BPL families.
The total Central allocation of rice for Puducherry was about 9,000 MT, which is over thrice the usual quota distributed a month in the Union Territory.
Besides, with the bitter back-and-forth between the Government and the Raj Nivas over the delay in the distribution of rice to BPL families, the supply of essentials as lockdown relief had turned into a sensitive issue.
“It was a race against the clock. We had to handle heavy loads as our job was to deliver three months of rice quota to BPL families at their doorstep. So, if a family had five members, we had to deliver 75 kg of rice to their doorstep,” said Ravi Shankar, a Ministerial staff at the department.
Each volunteer delivered around 50 tonnes of rice every day. It took a little over a week to complete the distribution of rice to red card holders in Puducherry.
“We are now distributing pulses to BPL families,” Mr. Shankar said.
