Rajasthan
Weight Loss: Poor Quality & Less Quantity Hit Annapurna Food Packet Scheme | Jaipur News
Jaipur: Chaos prevails at the 25,000-odd fair price shops across the state since the government started distributing spices, pulses and oil under the Annapurna Food Packet Yojana through these stores.
Officials handling the scheme and owners of the fair price shops said there were three reasons behind such chaos. First, the quality of the food items is poor. Second, the government is not yet supplying enough of them to cater to all beneficiaries. Third, as the co-operative department has been entrusted to oversee the scheme while the fair price shops work under the the food and civil supplies department, there is a lack of coordination in implementing the scheme.
“We have exactly 25,300 fair price shops across the state. In the last few days, the quantity of items the government has supplied is far less than the number of beneficiaries, at each of these stores. Everyday there is ruckus at the stores, as deprived customers blame the shopkeepers,” said Dimple Sharma, the state (Rajasthan) president and the national vice-president of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation.
The daily ruckus reached such a height on Thursday that the owner of a fair price store in Bikaner district was manhandled by customers.
To compound the problem of quantity, the quality of food itmes and of their packaging is also very poor. In several districts, the government has been compelled to roll back the stocks either due to complaints about quality or because the packages were found to be tampered with. If the packet of even one item is tampered with, the entire package of items cannot be distributed.
“In Churu district, the government rolled back the entire stock of items under the Annapurna Food Packet Yojana. The distribution there has been stopped temporarily,” said the owner of a fair price shop in the district.
The third, and the most vital, problem is the implementation of the distribution process. Although the fair price shops work under the supervision of food and civil supply department, a team—comprising an official from the co-operative department, the district collector, and a few other officials—is responsible for procuring items, recording them on the systems, and distributing them to the fair price shops.
“The beneficiaries of Annapurna yojana are entitled to 1kg of wheat from the union government. Now the state team is updating records of Annapurna food packet items under two heads—one for the soyabean oil, the other for rest of the items. While distributing the items we had to swipe the cards of the beneficiaries thrice. The server is creating a havoc and at this time we are unable to distribute even the stock that is ready,” Sharma said.
Officials handling the scheme and owners of the fair price shops said there were three reasons behind such chaos. First, the quality of the food items is poor. Second, the government is not yet supplying enough of them to cater to all beneficiaries. Third, as the co-operative department has been entrusted to oversee the scheme while the fair price shops work under the the food and civil supplies department, there is a lack of coordination in implementing the scheme.
“We have exactly 25,300 fair price shops across the state. In the last few days, the quantity of items the government has supplied is far less than the number of beneficiaries, at each of these stores. Everyday there is ruckus at the stores, as deprived customers blame the shopkeepers,” said Dimple Sharma, the state (Rajasthan) president and the national vice-president of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation.
The daily ruckus reached such a height on Thursday that the owner of a fair price store in Bikaner district was manhandled by customers.
To compound the problem of quantity, the quality of food itmes and of their packaging is also very poor. In several districts, the government has been compelled to roll back the stocks either due to complaints about quality or because the packages were found to be tampered with. If the packet of even one item is tampered with, the entire package of items cannot be distributed.
“In Churu district, the government rolled back the entire stock of items under the Annapurna Food Packet Yojana. The distribution there has been stopped temporarily,” said the owner of a fair price shop in the district.
The third, and the most vital, problem is the implementation of the distribution process. Although the fair price shops work under the supervision of food and civil supply department, a team—comprising an official from the co-operative department, the district collector, and a few other officials—is responsible for procuring items, recording them on the systems, and distributing them to the fair price shops.
“The beneficiaries of Annapurna yojana are entitled to 1kg of wheat from the union government. Now the state team is updating records of Annapurna food packet items under two heads—one for the soyabean oil, the other for rest of the items. While distributing the items we had to swipe the cards of the beneficiaries thrice. The server is creating a havoc and at this time we are unable to distribute even the stock that is ready,” Sharma said.
