UP issues GO to hold PDS camps to improve distribution system

Lucknow, Aug 11 (UNI) In a bid to curb black marketing, the Uttar Pradesh government has issued a government order (GO), directing district magistrates to depute officers to streamline the public distributution system (PDS).

Principal secretary to the chief minister, Shailesh Krishna told reporters here that the GO issued yesterday has directed DMs to depute officers of the rank of naib tehsildar, junior engineer, CDPO and kanoongo to hold one day camps in their respecive areas between 5th and 15th of every month. ''The designated supervising officers (SOs) will ensure that every one gets ration on that day...if someone fails to get the ration, he or she will be free to collect his due by the end of the month,'' Mr Krishna added.

He said the SO would check on the next day of the camp whether those left out have been given their share. ''It was noticed that shop-keepers, especially in rural areas do not open their shops and even sell the ration in the open market,'' he added.

No single SO will be sent to the same camp every time to ensure transparency. ''The process would help the government keep a close eye on the sale of items meant for PDS,'' Mr Krishna claimed.

In another GO, the state government headquarters asked the DM and district supply officers to calculate reservation of fair price shops on the basis of the total number of such shops in the district. ''''so far, the reservation was calculated on the block level, and it was not working,'' Mr Krishna said.

He said the reservation has to be implemented in three months and the DM and the district supply officer wiould be held responsible if they fail to meet the target. The chief secretary would personally review the status after every three months.

As per the system, 21 per cent reservation is to be given to SCs, 2 per cent to STs and 27 per cent to OBCs.

As of now, UP has 1.06 crore ration card holders in Antodya and BPL categories. Out of a total of 71,814 ration shops, 2202 are lying vacant.

UNI