Chief Minister Raghubar Das has ordered formation of a committee to solve issues coming before farmers selling their paddy to the Government through multiple agencies.
Das said during a review meeting of the food, public distribution and civil supplies department on Tuesday that the committee will identify difficulties before farmers so far in paddy selling and reasons of delayed or no payment, and will suggest ways to remove hurdles as soon as possible.
The CM has also ordered the department to direct the agencies involved in paddy purchasing to pay farmers’ dues at the earliest and blacklist those agencies, which fail to do so. At the same time, he asked officials to ensure installation of digital weighing machine at Public Distribution System (PDS) stores and connect all such machines with e-PoS (Point of Sale) machines before August 15 at any cost. He added that this would help beneficiaries getting right quantity of food grains and other items from PDS stores.
Notably, PDS store operators from almost all parts of the State have been found cheating customers in one way or the other even after installation of digital weighing machines as far as weight measurement is concerned. Das also asked the department officials to distribute sugar made available by union government on subsidized rate to Antyodaya families. Department Minister Saryu Roy and Secretary Vinay Choubey, Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, Principal Secretary to the CM Sanjay Kumar and other officials were also present during review meeting.
“We have targeted providing lPG cylinder and stove to all 28,53,904 identified families under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY) by October 2018 out of which 5,85,784 families have been covered so far. Monthly target must be met to cover the plan within time. We are also writing to the centre to increase gas dealership in the State so that beneficiaries under the plan don’t find refilling cylinders if and when required,” directed the CM.
Reviewing PTG Dakiya Yojna, Das ordered to make arrangements of providing 35 KG rice bag each to all 68,731 Scheduled Tribes families by a decided date of every month. The CM said to start direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme in kerosene distribution in rest 13 districts also from July 1, which has helped government save Rs 4.92 lakh during October, 16 – March, 17 in 11 districts where same has been in practice. Das also ordered to tag beneficiaries with their nearest PDS stores.