Odisha’s Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Kumar Das Burma on Monday praised the public distribution system (PDS) of Chhattisgarh. Burma, along with Madhusudan Padhi, Odisha’s Food and Consumer Welfare Secretary, saw the presentation given by the officials at the new Circuit House here.
He also visited the ration shops run by women self help groups (SHGs) and Annapurna Dal Bhat Kendra in the premises of the district jail. The Minister also took food in the jail premises with Chhattisgarh Food Minister Punnulal Mohle. In the ‘Dal Bhat Centre’ a complete meal is available at `5. Burma appreciated the quality of the food at the Centre.
Burma also visited the warehouses of the Chhattisgarh State Warehousing Corporation at Gudiayari. later, the Minister saw the presentation of the public distribution system (PDS) given by the Chhattisgarh Government officials at the new Circuit House in the presence of Chhattisgarh’s Food Minister. Burma said that he was impressed the way information technology has been used in the PDS system. Chhattisgarh Food Minister Punnulal Mohle told Burma that the State Government led by Chief Minister Raman Singh has done good work in the domain of PDS. Mohle said that under the Annapurna scheme ( Dal Bhat scheme) poor and needy people are being provided a complete meal at a cost of `5. At present , as many as 145 Dal Bhat Kendras are under operation in the State where everyday more than 20,000 people are getting their meals, he told Burma.
In the meeting, the Joint Director of the Food and Civil Supplies Department Rajeev Jaiswal through his presentation gave details of the scheme.
He said that 11,077 fair price shops are being operated in the State. Food grains are being supplied to these stores through 125 grain supply centres. Stores are being operated by gram panchayats, cooperatives, women’s self-help groups, forest protection committees and urban bodies.