Minister P Pulla Rao inspects civil supplies godown to check quality of essentials

Visakhapatnam: In view of the number of complaints received on the quality of essential commodities being distributed from fair price shops during the Pongal festival, the government has woke up to check the quality of commodities being distributed from ration shops.

In view of the Christmas, New Year Day and Hindu’s big festival Sankranti (Pongal), the State government is supplying various commodities to poor through fair price shops, for which the government is spending huge amounts to procure the commodities.

However, during the 2017 and 2018, the beneficiaries lodged large number of complaints on quality of commodities and at several places, the people dumped the material in the dustbins.

In view of the previous experiences, Minister for Civil Supplies P Pulla Rao here on Saturday conducted surprise checks on the civil supply godowns and fair price shops to assess the quality of commodities.

The minister rushed to the godowns located at Marripalem and checked the quality of various commodities including pulses, jaggery, ghee and sugar. During the checks, the minister observed that the colour of the jaggery was not good and directed the officials to acquire healthy jaggery.

The minister also pointed out the quality of sugar though it was procured from the cooperative sugar factories.

Responding on the quality of bags in which the government distributing the commodities, the minister directed the officials to return the bags to procure new quality bags.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the government has planned to distribute all essential commodities to 1.47 crore ration card holders to celebrate the festivals with joy and happiness.

Where there are no fair price shops, the civil supply officials would conduct a special drive to distribute the commodities, the minister said.