Balurghat SDO raids ration shops for irregularities in quality of rice

BALURGHAT: Sub-divisional officer of Balurghat

Isha Mukherjee along with officials of her department conducted raids in some MR (Marginal Ration) shops in and around the civic areas of Balurghat, to check for irregularities in the quality of rice stored at the godowns of the ration dealers and distributors on Sunday.

Notably, the raids were part of a special fortnightly drive initiated by South Dinajpur district administration called 'Paridarshan Abhiyan' from November 1, to oversee the overall infrastructure along with its qualitative assessment of government service delivery. The drive will be continued till November 15.

The raid was conducted at four MR shops located at Khadimpur, Chalkbhabani (Chowringhee), Mangalpur and Barobazar, while the officials talked to the beneficiaries to know if there were any irregularities.

They instructed the ration dealers to abide by the government norms strictly so that no beneficiary gets deprived. The officials had earlier instructed the dealers to use computer-printed bills instead of hand-written slips.

According to an official source, the ration shops in South Dinajpur have been under scanner for the last few days for selling inferior quality rice. They had procured paddy or rice from elsewhere illegally and not from the stock of the Food department.

Mukherjee said: "We have conducted raids at four MR shops to see if there was any irregularity. We have instructed the dealers to follow the government guidelines strictly while selling items to the beneficiaries. Our drive was part of Paridarshan Abhiyan."

"The focus was on overall observation, various statistical details, infrastructural assessment, quality evaluation and service delivery appraisal," she added.