Under the public distribution system (PDS), the State Government has opened 4,576 new ration shops in Chhattisgarh during the last
10 years. Now, the number of ration shops has increased to 11,077 in the State. These ration shops are being operated through various agencies to provide rice, wheat, pulse, gram, sugar, salt and kerosene to the ration card holder consumers on a regular basis.According to officers of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, of the total 11,077 ration shops, 9,781 are operational in rural areas and 1,296 in urban areas. The State Government supplies ration materials worth Rs4,640 crore to the lakhs of ration card holder families of the State every year, including rice/wheat worth
Rs4,000 crore, sugar worth Rs50 crore, gram worth Rs250 crore, pulses worth Rs250 crore and free Amrit salt worth Rs90 crore. These consumers get 2.24 lakh MT rice, 2,260 MT wheat, 6,860 tonne gram, 7,934 tonne pulses, 13,723 tonne Amrit salt and 15,000 kilo-litre kerosene oil every month.
The officers said that the operation of fair price shops in the State was being done through different agencies. 4,131 shops are operated by village panchayats, 4,354 by cooperative societies, 2,405 by women self-help groups, 151 by forest protection committees and 36 by urban bodies.
The departmental officers said that 771 ration shops are operational in Raigarh district, 763 in Rajnandgaon and 750 in Bilaspur district.
Similarly, 622 shops are operation in Janjgir-Champa, 578 in Durg, 563 in Raipur, 522 in Mahasamund, 515 in Balodabazar-Bhattapara, 435 in Sarguja, 424 in Jashpur, 415 in Korba, 414 in Balod, 403 in Surajpur, 401 in Kanker, 386 in Kabirdham, 368 in Bastar, 368 in Dhamtari, 355 in Bemetara, 314 in Mungeli, 313 in Gariyaband, 297 in Korea, 291 in Balrampur-Ramanujganj, 277 in Kondagaon, 168 in Bijapur, 147 in Sukma, 139 in Dantewada and 75 in Narayanpur district.