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Minister takes offence over opposition to plan on PDS
THE MINISTER for Cooperatives, Food & Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection, Gopal Bhargava, was today miffed at the State Cabinet meeting when certain ministers opposed the proposal from his department to streamline and regulate the public distribution system (PDS) in the State.
THE MINISTER for Cooperatives, Food & Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection, Gopal Bhargava, was today miffed at the State Cabinet meeting when certain ministers opposed the proposal from his department to streamline and regulate the public distribution system (PDS) in the State.
The proposal, if accepted, would have ensured that the fair price ration shops were run only by the organised cooperative sector in the rural as well as the urban areas.
The department felt that this way the irregularities like sale of ration and kerosene in black market, about which people often complained, would be removed.
The department chalked out the new policy after considering the PDS in several other states. It found that the PDS in Tamil Nadu and Kerala was most effective.
A couple of ministers opposed the proposal saying that the private persons should also continue to run the ration shops like the existing system.
To this, Bhargava retorted that if this was the situation, it should not be expected of him to set the things right in the distribution system.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan intervened and said the matter would be resolved later at a meeting.
