PDS vehicles to display details of goods

New Delhi, Nov 3 (UNI) The Department of Food and Public Distribution has made it mandatory for vehicles carrying public distribution goods to prominently display details about the items on the windshield as well as the rear end.

''The vehicles are required to display words like 'On PDS Ration Duty' followed by the destination of the vehicle, commodity being carried and agent's name on a board or a Banner of about 3 feet by 2 feet size written or printed in black ink,'' the Department said in a statement.

The information should, as far as possible, be displayed in the local language, it added.

In a letter to Secretaries of Department of Food and Civil Supplies of all the states and union territories, Mr T Nanda Kumar, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, has urged them to follow the instructions in order to streamline PDS operations.

The trucks or vehicles which do not display stickers or banners containing the above information will be returned without load by Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central Warehousing Corporation from December 1, the letter stated.

There have been several instances of foodgrains loaded on to trucks in FCI godowns by state agencies being diverted to the open market. The central government attaches the highest priority to measures being taken to minimise diversion and leakage of foodgrains, so that foodgrains issued under the Public Distribution System reach the targeted beneficiaries.

UNI BKS PKS ND1710