Uttarakhand food and civil supply minister Pritam Singh slammed the Centre on Wednesday for not releasing wheat to be distributed under Public Distribution System for APl category people to discredit the state government ahead of the Assembly election. However, he assured in the same breath that the state government would do something to provide wheat to the APl category people at subsidized rate.
Following scant supply of wheat to the state from the Centre, APl card holders would not procure wheat under public distribution system from the month of December till March, said a state food and civil supply officer on Wednesday.
Dehradun food and civil supply officer and joint commissioner PS Pangti said that as the Centre is not allocating wheat for the state, the APl card holders would not get wheat from PDS shops. “We would discuss and decide what to do, given the situation,” he said.
“However, BPl card holders and beneficiaries of National Food Security Scheme would get their wheat from their PDS shops as usual. Besides, the APl ration cardholders would continue to get rice from the PDS shops,” the officer added.
An owner of a PDS shop said that they would face difficulties in the coming days. “Things might become tough for us as the APl people would raise questions over their being denied wheat while the BPl people are receiving it,” he said.