'Poor quality of rice unacceptable under Khadya Sathi'

Behrampore: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked officials not to procure poor quality rice and then distribute it at Rs 2 per kg under Khadya Sathi project. She held the administrative review meeting of Murshidabad district here on Monday afternoon.

Banerjee said Mohua Moitra, MLA from Karimpur in Nadia, had told her that people had refused to take rice under Khadya Sathi project, because of poor quality.

Inquiries have revealed that the state government procures paddy, which is sent to the rice mills to produce rice. A district-level monitoring team will be set up to visit the rice mills to ensure that the owners produce quality rice.

"We are buying rice for Rs 24 per kg and are selling it to the beneficiaries of Khadya Sathi project at Rs 2 per kg. We are giving Rs 22 as subsidy per kg of rice. Despite so much fund constraints, we are spending crores of rupees to procure rice and I am not going to tolerate any lapses," she said, adding "We cannot give them Basmati rice, but at the same time cannot compromise with the quality of rice either."

On the other hand, Banerjee said stringent action should be taken against the drivers who flout traffic rules and drive recklessly. "We should cancel the driving licence on the spot of those who drive recklessly," the CM said.

It has been decided that speedbreakers will be put up 10 meters before crossroads and crash barriers will be put up on bridges. "The drivers should follow Slow Drive Save Life," she remarked.

The CM said special drives should be taken up to make the workers from the unorganised sectors aware about the schemes taken for them by the state government. "We have several schemes for the workers of unorganised sectors. But they should know about the schemes," Banerjee said. There are thousands of bidi and construction workers in Murshidabad.