Kolkata: To make the collection of food grains simpler, state Food and Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick said that his department will start providing ration once in a month from April. Presently ration in the form of food grains is provided once, twice or even thrice in a month.
"5 kg rice that is allotted under Khadya Sathi scheme comes at Rs 10 only, the price being Rs 2 per kg. So it will be easier for people to collect his/ her family's allotted food grains once in a month. This will save time and people have to stand in a queue only once in a month. We are expecting to implement this one-time monthly rationing system from April," said Mallick.
The department has introduced EPos machines in several ration shops across the state. Each family member will have to authenticate by providing fingerprint in these machines. The ration card will be linked to the Aadhaar card. From then, any one of the family members can withdraw ration for the whole family.
"The once a month withdrawal of ration will also put less pressure on the EPos machines," a senior official of the department said.
There have been cases when dealers have kept their shops closed on certain days in a week and people have not received their due share of rice." So if every beneficiary purchases their share of 5 kg rice at Rs 2 per kg once a month from
the ration shops it will be beneficial for him/ her," the official added.
Among other measures to prevent such incidents, the department will soon introduce three separate WhatsApp numbers – one for rice, one for atta and the third for sugar in which people can register their grievances if any.
The complaint once lodged will automatically reach the district controller, the department's head office and the sub-divisional controller.