Licences of 276 dealers cancelled for PDS irregularities

Chandigarh, Nov 11 (UNI) The Haryana Food and Supplies Department has cancelled licences of 276 dealers for committing various irregularities in public distribution system during first four months of the current financial year, Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan said here today.

He said that an intensive campaign to improve the functioning of the fair price shops in the State had been undertaken in which the department had forfeited security of 790 erring dealers amounting to over Rs 5.55 lakh during the period under report.

As many as 29 cases had also been registered with the police against the dealers for indulging in malpractices in the distribution of essential commodities and 16 persons had been arrested during the same period.

He said that a network of 9589 fair price shops, 2678 in urban areas and 6911 in rural areas were supplying essential commodities at the reasonable rates to the residents of the State.

Out of these, 77 shops were located near the industrial area for the benefit of the industrial workers and 22 near school hostels for ensuring supply of essential commodities to the students.

UNI