Staff Reporter
Guwahati: At a time when price rise is burning a hole in the pocket of residents, the Department of Food, Public Distribution, and Consumer Affairs is unable to perform its primary function of monitoring the market price. The department is currently wracked by a manpower crisis, with a large number of posts of top officials lying vacant.
Of the 748 approved posts, a total of 342 posts are now vacant. Of this, 218 senior posts in the department, from that of Joint Directors to Inspectors, are unoccupied. There are four posts of Joint Directors, all of which are vacant. Of the 21 deputy director posts, 17 are vacant. There are 15 posts of assistant directors vacant, out of a total of 25 posts. 14 posts of superintendents from the total of 42 posts are vacant. 65 Inspectors’ posts are also defunct. 103 posts of deputy inspectors, out of a total of 249, are also vacant.
The Department of Food, Public Distribution, and Consumer Affairs is allied with the Department of Legal Metrology, dealing with Weights and Measures, which also has 94 of 360 of its allotted posts unmanned. The officials have to take care of a lot of issues, which is a hassle for the low number of officials. The department is also affected by no promotions lately.
The Directorate of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs is entrusted with vigilance and monitoring of markets; verification of weights and measures; implementation of state and central government schemes; verifying ration cards; and monitoring price rises.
Also read: Northeast stakeholders emphasize need for region-specific food system policies (sentinelassam.com)
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