Acute crunch of district supply officers (DSOs) in Jharkhand casts its ill effects on the deliverance especially when there is enforced food security. There are only 11 DSOs in the State as against a number of 24. Thirteen districts are managed by in-charge DSOs.
Conceding this, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Roy said where there is no regular DSO some officers are doubling up as DSOs in the districts. Roy was in Daltonganj on Sunday to attend a programme of an NGO here. Roy said now ration card holders are not to suffer the pang of their ration getting lapsed.
Rations meant for the holders will be kept in PDS for months together. He said the State Government wants PDS to be opened to all. The GOI is being approached for this Roy asserted.
Interestingly, Saryu Roy came by train and is expected to return by train. Palamu district BJP president Manoj Kumar Singh said, “Saryu is perhaps the only leader in the State who prefers train to luxury car”. The BJP president further said Saryu has no passionate penchant for holding press briefings rather he concentrates on his job.
DC Palamu K Srinivasan and the Probationer IAS D Jha reached circuit house and met Roy. A courteous Roy came out of his room to see DC and the Probationer off then.
Speaking to The Pioneer at the circuit house here the Food Minister said leakages in deliverance of food and civil supplies are to be checked and steps are on the anvil. The minister agreed that deliverance needs to be further toned up.
The minister discounted that vested interests go on telling that ration cards have not come from State while the fact is that ration cards are to be printed in the district and DC and his offices are to ensure its distribution.
Roy said his department is highly secretarial, as right from granting of licence for public distribution shops to its suspension or cancellations, are done at various levels of district administration. The minister did not deny a strong nexus between marketing officer and the PDS dealers.
About the anomalies in ration cards he said the data base for the new ration cards was prepared from the old ones where existed already a huge large number of ghost ration cards. The flaws of the past just filtered down with the new ones he conceded.
When Saryu Roy’s attention was drawn towards the ‘invisible’ Daltonganj BJP MlA Aloke Chourasia who skips people, their issues which has led to ‘nirasha aur narazgee’ the veteran BJP leader just said ‘ This will be brought to the notice of the chief minister Das and state BJP president as these two are the competent ones to comment on this passivity of the BJP MlA Chourasia’.
The minister did not disagree that pendency of schemes outnumber the completed ones as he further nodded in affirmation that pendency costs the labourers/workers their wages that goes un paid for longer period of time.
A highly respected and seasoned BJP leader Shyam Narayan Dubey said labourers migrating from Palamu is no novel thing and wanted condition of farmers to be more taken care of as in all these years labourers’ issues were highlighted only.