Fair price shops to be reorganised in Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam: The state government is likely to reorganise the ration shops and modify them as departmental stores. The dealers of the shops are going to sell more products through the outlets. The government plans to reduce the burden on the dealers of the fair price shops, and it is planning to reduce the number of cards under each shop.

At present the government is providing commodities like red gram, sugar, rice, oil, salt, tamarind, chilly power through the shops. But later they may be modified to departmental stores and Khadi Dhovathi, Saree, Soaps, and other cosmetics also will be made available here.

At present each shop is distributing the provisions and groceries to around 500-800 cards. In some areas the number of cards may be around 1,000. The authorities are planning to reduce the number of cards to 250 and 500. If the proposal comes to reality, the number of dealers will be increased.

Recently the minister for civil supplies Paritala Sunitha announced in Vizianagaram district that the number of depots will be increased. The government of Andhra Pradesh is supplying the provisions to 1,40,90,000 card holders all over the state.

Apart from this, the government is taking more efforts to control the irregularities in this public distribution system. They are likely to implement the bio metric system, and all the trucks which are loaded with the groceries will be linked with global positioning system (GPS) and the district level officers will monitor the movement of the vehicle. If the owners of that fair price shop try to divert the vehicle, the authorities can easily identify it and take action on the concerned dealer.