Ration dealers to keep shops open all week: Jyotipriya Mallick

Kolkata: State Food and Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick said on Monday that the ration dealers have agreed to keep their shops open seven days a week till March 31, to avoid queuing of people, while LPG cylinder will not be carried up to the kitchen of the consumer by the delivery men.

Both the moves come as a preventive measure to stop the spread of novel Coronavirus. Mallick held two separate meetings one with the ration dealers and kerosene oil agents and another with the LPG gas suppliers and petrol pump association to ensure that people are not deprived of the essential services at a time when the state has gone on lockdown from Monday 5 pm till March 27.

"The ration dealers have given their word that they will keep their shops open seven days a week till March 31. The shops will be open from 8 to 12 noon in the morning and from 4 to 8 pm," Mallick said. Mask and sanitisers and other necessary protective equipment have already been provided to the ration shops.

The LPG gas suppliers have assured that there will be no shortage of supply. "In the case of households, the delivery men will take cylinders up to the gate or doorstep while in cases of apartments or housing complexes they will carry the cylinder only up to the gates. Customers who have booked for cylinders should carry the same on their own inside their respective kitchens. However, in the case of elderly people the delivery men will do the needful," a senior official of Indian Oil who attended the meeting said. The petroleum association has been asked to make their staff work in shifts and make some sort of temporary arrangement so that the workers can reach their home. They have expressed their difficulty in keeping all the petrol pumps open beyond 5 pm but assured the best of service to the customers who will be on road for essential duties.

The Food department will have two control rooms operational round the clock. The control rooms with numbers 1967 and 18003455505 will immediately respond to any difficulty faced by a customer in getting food grains, LPG or petrol/ diesel and take up the matter with the respective district police or commissionerates for prompt action.

"Me and my department's Principal Secretary Manoj Agarwal will be at the control room for three to four hours daily to ensure the best of services," Mallick said.