SDO orders Bengali stock boards at MR shops

 

COOCH BEHAR, Nov. 16: Modified ration dealers were directed to display blackboards depicting the position of stock and rate of commodities available in their shops in Bengali so that common people can know the actual situation. According to government guideline such boards are to be displayed in English but the MR dealers under Cooch Behar Sadar sub-division were asked to write the stock position in Bengali for convenience of commoners. Cooch Behar Sadar SDO Mr Jayanta Kumar Maiti issued this instruction at a meeting that was held yesterday. Chief inspector, inspectors and sub-inspectors of food and supply department, pradhans of Gram Panchayats and BDOs were present at the meeting. The SDO asked the officials of food and supply department, panchayat functionaries and civic bodies to ensure displaying of the boards. It should be done before 26 November. On that day the situation will be reviewed in another meeting.

 

Mr Maiti said he already visited several areas to study the functioning of public distribution system and modified ration shops. From now on inspection will be done regularly to see whether the informative blackboards were displayed or not. If necessary offending MR dealers will be suspended on the spot, he said. Moreover, no dealer will be allowed to keep ration card of any beneficiary at the shop, he added.

 

There was no effective Shop Level Monitoring Committee till now anywhere in Cooch Behar. The SDO issued instruction to form such committees comprising of civic body chairman or gram panchayat pradhan, food sub-inspector, a BPL woman and a respectable person of the area concerned. He asked officials to invite representatives of political parties to attend SLMC meetings to ensure transparency and avoid unrest. The SDO asked all concerned to form SLMCs before 26 November. Mr Maiti said meetings of these committees are to be done once in a month but it was never happened. From now on it will occur regularly, he assured.

 

It was observed that some dealers lift commodities against the ration cards of dead persons. As no family surrenders the cards of dead members the dealers get the opportunity to practice corruption. To ensure transparency it will be mandatory to surrender the cards of dead persons to the chairman of civic body or pradhan of gram panchayat concerned at the time of receiving death certificate. Mentionworthy, there are 180 MR dealers in 28 gram panchayats and 20 municipality wards under Cooch Behar Sadar sub-division. []