Our Correspondent
Itanagar : Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Chhotu Ram Chaudhary has assured Arunachal Pradesh to enhance the fair price shop (FPS) dealers’ margin and transportation rate for food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The Minister’s assurance came when Arunachal Pradesh Food & Civil Supplies Minister Kamlung Mosang called on him at Krishi Bhavan at New Delhi yesterday, an official comminique informed.
Mossang who called on the minister twice in the last two days, submitted a 10-point memorandum raising several issues concerning the state. Mosang apprised Choudhary of the issues relating to the implementation of the NFSA and other challenges unique to the frontier and cash-strapped state.
“Presently, the FPS dealers’ margin is Rs 143 per quintal, which needs to be enhanced to Rs 200 per quintal for the viability of running FPS’ in remote locations. Moreover, a flat Rs 100 per quintal is fixed by the Centre for transportation of NFSA food grains, out of which the Centre and the state’s matching share is in the ratio of 75:25, irrespective of the distance covered, thereby forcing the state to bear the remaining Rs 252 per quintal against the actual transportation cost of Rs 327 per quintal to deliver food grains from the FCI base depots to the FPS,” Mosang said.
Choudhary assured to allocate food grains under the welfare scheme for education institutions at an increased scale for the welfare institutions and hostels, to cater to 84,391 ST, SC and OBC students. The minister also assured to provide more funds for construction of godowns for advance storage of food grains.