4k ration dealers to be recruited

Guntur: Andhra Pradesh Food Commission (APFC) chairman J R Pushparaj said all the 4,327 vacant fair price shop dealer posts would be filled soon on the basis of roaster points and reservations.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, 29,000 fair price shops were serving 1.42 crore card holders in the state and nearly 4.20 crore people were benefitting from the public distribution system (PDS). He said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had agreed to fill the vacant fair price dealer posts in a recently meeting of district collectors.

Stating that all steps were being taken to implement Food Security Act, 2013, effectively, the APFC chairman said the very purpose of the Act was to provide nutritious food to the people. “The Act has to be implemented by both the state and Central governments, as a part of it the Andhra Pradesh has established the Andhra Pradesh Food Commission. The APFC inspects the quality of the food and will take action accordingly,” he added.

Pushparaj said 55,600 Anganwadi centres working under 257 ICDS projects were feeding healthy and nutritious food to 33 lakh children, pregnant women in the state and if any discrepancies were found, severe action would be taken. Similarly, 35 lakh students from 45,000 schools were benefitting from the midday meals scheme, and the government would not spare any agency if standard were not maintained in its implementation, he said.

He lamented that Guntur district of late had become the care of address for all types of spurious food items, and frequent raids were being conducted to prevent adulteration and several companies were being prosecuted. Joint collector Kritika Shukla, civil supplies state director G Ravibabu, school education commissioner Sandhya Rani and others participated in the press conference.