Gas cylinders must be delivered to LPG consumer’s home through home delivery under PMUY: CM

Gas cylinders must be delivered to LPG consumer’s home in the state through home delivery under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The central government through the Indian Oil Corporation, pays the gas agencies Rs 26 per cylinder as transportation fee. If any LPG gas agency does not deliver the cylinder through home delivery to the consumer, then necessary action should be taken against that agency, stated Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in a review meeting with Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs department at the Secretariat yesterday.

Reviewing various work plans of the department the Chief Minister said, the present state government has emphasized on bringing transparency in the public. distribution system after taking charge. Digitalization has been introduced in the public distribution system so that the actual consumers can collect their supplies from the ration shop. As a result, the rights of consumers have been protected as well as transparency has come in the work of the food department.

Secretary of the department Saradindu Choudury in the meeting informed, at present, there are 1,884 ration shops in the state. Among them 466 ration shops are in urban areas and 1,418 ration shops are in rural areas.Ration items are being provided through biometric authentication to protect the rights of consumers in ration shops. Aadhar Cards have been linked 100% to the ration cards so that the actual consumers can collect their supplies from the ration shop.

At present in the state, everything from godowns to ration shops, transportation, stocks, etc, have been made online. At present, there are 133 food godowns in the state where total 72 thousand 600 MT agricultural produce can be stored. Besides that, there are 7 FCI Base Depo where 47 thousand 228 MT agricultural produce can be stored. Apart from that, there are 69 enlisted transport contractors to deliver the supplies from FCI Depo to different godowns in the state, 160 doorstep delivery contractors for delivering supplies from godown to ration shops and 12 vehicles of the department to deliver PDS commodities.

The Secretary also informed that at present there are 3 enlisted Flour Mills and 85 Wheat Threshing Mills in the state. Apart from that, there are 65 POL outlets, 60 LPG agencies and 28 Kerosene oil agencies in the state. In this regard the Chief Minister said, due the state governments sincere efforts, consumers are getting Dal in the ration shops. Dal hast to be brought from outside the state.

It has been observed that a lot of money was spent in Dal Milling. Dal loading and unloading. That is why the department must take initiative to set up Dal Mills in the state. If there is anybody willing to set up a Dal Mil, then they must be encouraged by providing them facilities from the Industry& Commerce department as setting up of Dal Mill will help save time and money. Food department officials have to regularly check if the daily essential items are available in the state.

The Secretary of the department informed, ‘One Nation, One Card has been fully. functional in the state from January 2020. At present, monthly average of 1100-1200 out-of state households and monthly average of 24,000 to 25,000 ration card holders in the state are availing this facility. The department has taken initiative to open 408 new ration shops in the state according to the decision taken by the state government. 159 new ration shops have already been set up so far. A new LPG Plant with an annual capacity of 1.2 lakh MT has been set up in Bodhjungnagar which will be opened soon. From the financial year 2018-19 to 2021-22, total 96 thousand 236 MT paddy has been procured from the farmers at Minimum Support Price spending 177 crore 9 lakh rupees for this and benefitting 53 thousand 300 farmers.

He further informed, under Chief Minister’s Covid-19 Special Relief scheme during Covid-19 situation, total 6 lakh 19 thousand families were provided with financial assistance of 1 thousand rupees. Apart from that, under this scheme, free food packets were distributed to 7 lakh 13 thousand families spending 71 crore 3 lakh rupees.

In order to provide the best protection to the customers of the state. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has been made effective in the state. At present, there are 5 Consumer Courts in the state. Besides that, there is one State Commission and 4 District Commissions in 4 districts such as West Tripura, South Tripura, Dhalai and North Tripura districts.

The Chief Minister lauded the department on achieving success in various ways in providing quality services to the consumers in the state and directed that initiatives must be taken to bring such achievements to light among the public. Food Minister Manoj Kanti Deb, Chief Secretary Kumar Alok, Director of Food Department Tapan Das and other officials attended the meeting.