Delhi: Fair price shops to remain open on all days

Delhi Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Imran Hussain on Friday directed officials to ensure that all fair price shops (FPS) open daily without any weekly off to ensure smooth distribution of ration free of cost to the NFSA and PMGKAY beneficiaries.

The directions were issued by Hussain at a high-level meeting to review the distribution of ration.

The minister assured the beneficiaries that sufficient ration is available and there is no need to panic. He said strict action will be taken against those FPS dealers who refuse distribution of complete ration.

“The minister directed the officers to ensure that all fair price shops (FPS) open regularly daily without any weekly off. He directed officers to conduct inspections on regular basis to ensure smooth and easy distribution of ration and that beneficiaries do not face any inconvenience in obtaining ration from the FPSs,” an official statement said.

“The officers were directed to ensure that FPS dealers display the mandatory and updated information outside FPSs prominently on the flex boards and banners pertaining to category-wise entitlements of free ration under both National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), stock position, the total number of beneficiaries and other prescribed information,” it added.

Later in the day, Hussain also conducted inspections of fair price shops in Sultanpuri area to check availability and distribution of ration free of cost to beneficiaries.

In Delhi, under the Public Distribution System (PDS) covered by the National Food Security Act 2013, the beneficiaries are provided with 5 kg of food grain every month under regular entitlement, including 4 kg of wheat and 1 kg of rice.