276 PDS licences cancelled in Haryana

Chandigarh, Oct 8 (UNI) The Haryana Food and Supplies Department has cancelled licences of 276 dealers for committing various irregularities in public distribution system (PDS) during the first quarter of the current financial year.

Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan today said an intensive campaign to improve the functioning of the fair price shops in the state had been undertaken under which the department had forfeited security of 790 erring dealers amounting to over Rs 5.55 lakh during this period.

He said as many as 29 cases had also been registered against the dealers for indulging in malpractices in the distribution of essential commodities and 16 persons had been arrested.

A network of 9589 fair price shops, 6911 of them in rural areas, were supplying essential commodities at the reasonable rates to the residents of the state.

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

UNI