Efforts on to prevent PDS rice diversion via check posts
Minister for Civil Supplies Nadendla Manohar addressing the media in Visakhapatnam on Monday
Visakhapatnam: Minister for Civil Supplies Nadendla Manohar on Monday said that three internal check posts have been set up in Visakhapatnam Port area to monitor vehicles continuously carrying rice.
Speaking to the media here, the Minister said that these check posts will work 24 hours round the clock in three shifts and 33 staff have been appointed for the purpose.
He mentioned that many reforms have been brought in the civil supplies department. The government is providing quality fortified rice to the people through the civil supplies department and that strong measures are being taken to ensure that the rice provided by the government does not get diverted and land in black market, he stressed.
Further, Manohar said that 700 mobile rapid kits have been made available to identify whether the stock is PDS rice or not.
He mentioned that these rapid kits will contain bottles of potassium thiocyanate and hydrochloric acid. He said that if these solutions are sprinkled on the fortified rice supplied by the government, it turns red, but the colour does not change for the rice sold in shops in the open market.
Further, Nadendla Manohar stated that in the past, it was difficult to prove in court after sending illegal rice to the lab, and these rapid kits will enable immediate identification and seizure. The Civil Supplies Minister informed that 4.42 crore people in the State have been provided with smart rice cards with QR codes, and 89 percent of them are getting rice through these cards.
Speaking about the previous government’s failure, the minister mentioned that the previous government seized 5.35 lakh quintals of rice in five years, and the NDA government has seized 5.65 lakh quintals of rice worth 245 crore in the last 14 months.So far, 230 criminal cases have been filed and the investigation is underway in the courts, he added.
Civil Supplies Corporation MD Manjeer Jilani, Joint Collector Mayur Ashok, Civil Supplies Corporation DM Srilatha and District Civil Supplies Officer Bhaskara Rao participated in the meeting.