Chennai: The Co-operative Department has appointed additional officers to the districts to monitor the distribution of Pongal gift packages.
The Government of Tamil Nadu is to provide a gift package of 21 items including groceries and sugarcane to 2.15 crore ration card holders. Chief Minister Stalin will inaugurate the project today (Jan. 4) at the General Secretariat in Chennai.
Inspection in stores
Following that, it is to be distributed in ration shops. A committee headed by the District Collector has been set up to ensure that the goods reach the eligible cardholders properly. It consists of the District Supply Officer, the Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies and the Regional Manager of the Consumer Goods Corporation.
An officer in the rank of Deputy Collector has also been appointed to inspect 10-15 shops in the district. Apart from this, at present, the Co-operative Department has appointed a total of 12 registrars as monitoring officers, with one additional registrar for two-three districts to oversee the distribution of gift packages.
They will inspect the Pongal gift package packing areas, the weight of the packages, etc. in the districts allotted to them and ensure that the cardholders are properly delivered.
Pongal gift package includes 1 kg each of paste, jaggery, semolina, wheat flour; Half a kilo of moss lentils, lentils, salt; 200 grams of tamarind; 250 grams of peanuts; 100 g each of ghee, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, mustard, cumin. As a cloth bag with 10 grams of cardamom and whole cane, 21 items are included.
Cardholders should move out of stores only after confirming that all of the above items are properly delivered. If you come back home and ask if there are any supplies, the ration staff is unlikely to deliver.
Rat harassment
The Department of Food has instructed the Cooperative Department to hire additional staff to rush to the cardholders and deliver the gift package. However, in many stores with more than 1,000 cards, no additional staff is employed. Also, the rats in the ration shops bite and ruin the items in the gift package. Therefore, employees are inconvenienced by the inability to secure goods and workload.
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