It was 9am. More than 100 women had queued up with ration cards in front of two adjacent fair price shops (FPS) at Sundarbori area opposite to the Assam Engineering College campus in Jalukbari in Guwahati. When quizzed, they said they will get free rice from their respective FPS for the current month under the “Anna Sewa Saptah” programme of the State Government. Launched on November 10, the Saptah ended on November 16 serving nearly 2 Cr. people courtesy the Department of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs (FPD&CA).
“Today, I collected 15 kg of rice free of cost from our fair price shop under Priority Household Card. We have three members in our family. For every person, we have been getting 5 kg of free rice every month since Covid,” said Saraswati Das (40) of Ward No. 2 of Sundarbori area, while talking to Asom Barta.
“Altogether, 402 ration card holders have been collecting free rice from my shop for over two years. Out of this, I have three AAY ration card holders and the rest are PHH card holders. Initially, there was a glitch in the e-POS machine, but it was all good thereafter,” said Bhaskar Kumar, owner of one of two FPSs in the area.
“This is a good step. We were given our quota on time, and we ask card holders to collect it within the timeframe,” Bhaskar added.
Pakhila Kalita (59) of Ward No. 1, Sundarbori has Antyodaya Anna Yojana Ration Card. “I collected 35 kg of rice. The quality of rice looks very good. In the open market, the price of this variety of rice is Rs 45 per kg,” said Kalita.
At Medhipara on the outskirts of Managaldai, the district headquarters of Darrang, it was a similar story.
“We are three in the family, including my daughter and my granddaughter, who is specially abled. I was told that November onwards, free and on time distribution will be there. This month’s FPS rice quality is also good,” said Bimala Deka (60).
After putting her thumb impressions on an e-POS machine for the official receipt after proper weight measurement at an FPS, Nirmali Deka Nath (40) of Dahi village in Darrang district remarked that Anna Sewa Saptah, introduced by the State Government, is people-friendly.
Dhruba Jyoti Deka, In-charge, DDS, FPD&CA Department told this reporter: “By 9th of this month we ensured delivery of rice to every FPS in our district. We carried out an awareness drive by holding meeting with FPS owners and beneficiaries at some places. We have 1, 91,427 number of Ration Card holders in our district and the total beneficiaries stand at 7,15,885.”
In Morigaon district of central Assam, FPS are performing to the satisfaction of most.
“The new SoP of the Government is a good step. It has solved many loopholes in the system,” said Matiur Rahman, Assistant Director of the Department in Morigaon district. He added that the number of ration card holder in the district is 1,87,351 and total beneficiaries stand at 7,02,815.
Bhadra Bordoloi (65) of Manipur village under Bhurbondha Development Block in the district has been managing a fair price shop since 1991. “We have been getting regular supply for over two years. The district administration has been very strict on this,” she told this newsletter.
According to Bordoloi, e-POS-induced transparency has curtailed the scope for manipulation of purchase records and diversion of PDS grains to other sources.
