West Bengal: Ration Dealers’ Federation requests food & supplies dept to replace inferior quality rice

At a time when the Enforcement Directorate is investigating alleged Public Distribution System scam in West Bengal, All India Fair Price Shop Dealers’ Federation (AIFPSDF) has requested the Secretary of Food and Supplies Department, Parwez Ahmad Siddique to replace inferior quality of boiled rice to avoid the people’s resentment in December.

In a letter to the Secretary of Food and Supplies Department Mr Siddique, the national General Secretary of AIFPSDF, Biswambhar Basu has claimed that very inferior and doubtful quality of boiled rice, which is broken, red in colour and infested with dust and other foreign particles was supplied to wholesalers and distributors in some areas including Barrackpore, Dum Dum and Bidhannagar from the State Warehousing Corporation’s godown.

Mr Basu has also informed the Secretary that that inferior quality of rice is being supplied to the Fair Price Shops as allotment for the month of December 2023. The Ration Dealers, who are carrying out the state government’s programme Dooare Ration, are in fear that there will be serious consumers’ resentment leading to law and order problem following various ‘unkind reports and misconceptions’ in the market at present.

Federation Secretary, Mr Basu has urged the Secretary, Mr Siddique to initiate thorough checking of inferior quality of rice ‘bag to bag’ in the depots lifted by the wholesalers and distributors and ensure replacement for inferior boiled rice by better quality of rice so that the PDS may not hamper in December 2023.

This article has been republished from The Statesman.