PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: Over 5 lakh families benefitted in State

In the interest of the people of the state, the state government has decided to sell 100 gram packets of soybeans at affordable prices in ration shops. Consumers can purchase soybeans from ration shops as per their requirement and the cost of each 100 gram packet of soybeans will be Rs. 16 which is much lesser than the market price.

The people of the state will particularly benefit from this and the ration shops will be more economically prosperous. Special Secretary of the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Dr. Sandeep R Rathod informed this in a press conference at the Press Conference Hall of Secretariat yesterday.

Highlighting the progress of different schemes and new mitiatives implemented in the state through the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, the Special Secretary informed that in December 2018, for the first time in the state, the programme of buying paddy directly from farmers at subsidized prices was started which continued in the current Kharif season (2022-23).

The procurement of paddy for the current season has started in the state from December 15 and will continue till January 31. He said that a target of 35 thousand metric tons of paddy has been taken for this season and a total of 17,079 metric tons of paddy has been purchased from 7818 farmers till January 2 and for this a total of 34 crore 84 lakh rupees has been spent from the government treasury. A total of 1 lakh 47 thousand 884 metric tons of paddy has been purchased in the state since 2018 till now and the farmers have received a total of 278 crore 83 lakh rupees as subsidized price

At the press conference, the Special Secretary informed that in another public welfare decision taken by the central government, 5 lakh 99 thousand families of the state got the benefit under National Food Security Act. The Special Secretary informed that besides ensuring food security of the common people of the country, the central government has taken a programme to distribute micronutrient mixed rice and fortified rice under different public welfare schemes.

Accordingly, under mid-day meal and Integrated Child Development Scheme (Poshan Abhiyan), fortified rice distribution programme is being implemented across the state and distribution of fortified rice is being done in Dhalai district of the state under mass distribution and from April 2023 this rice will also be distributed in other districts of the state.

He also informed that a new food godown with a storage capacity of 500 metric tons was inaugurated recently at Belbari in Jirania and another new food godown with a storage capacity of 1000 metric tons was inaugurated at Chandrapur in Udaipur on January 4. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has been duly implemented to ensure the protection of consumer interest in the state.

At present, there is one State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and a total of 4 District Consumer Commissions, one each in West Tripura, Dhalai, Gomati and Unakoti districts are working to protect consumer interests in the state. Recently, the state government has decided to constitute three new District Consumer Commissions in North Tripura (Dharmanagar), Khowai and South Tripura (Belonia) districts of the state.

Director of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Nirmal Adhikari, and Additional Director Animesh Debbarma were present at the press conference.