DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 16 (MExN): The Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) today appealed to the Nagaland Food and Civil Supplies (F&CS) Department to address anomalies in the Public Distribution System.
A press note from the NPRAAF said that “much is left to be addressed even after BPL and APL systems are done away.”
It alleged that the main stockist of all items of essential commodities is a “non local” who obtains the Power of Attorney (POA) from a Naga and purchases the items from the FCI and stores in his Godown.
“Thereafter a commission is paid to the higher ups, following the payment of commissions, the stockist gives away few quantities of rice to the fair price shop and the larger quantities including wheat are distributed to the market stockist at the price of Rs 850 to 950 per bag depending on the market demand,” it claimed.
The NPRAAF stated that the department is not adhering to fairness in distribution of the commodities “which violates the rights of the beneficiaries and therefore tantamount to denial of Constitutional Rights of the citizen.”
Further the NPRAAF stated that distribution of wheat is “little or nonexistent as there is no beneficiaries of wheat.” “However the RTI response by the department to NPRAAF shows that the hostels/ institution are beneficiaries of the said item, this violation is a criminal offence committed by the concerned and is punishable under the law of the land,” it said.
Expressing concern that the Power of Attorney is being misused in the department, the NPRAAF demanded that the POA holder “recompense the mis-utilized commodities,” and the department “initiate legal action against the POA holder.” It also demanded that open tender be floated and the contract of the stockist for AAY be awarded to a competent Naga contractor who is capable to execute the works.
It asked that the “nexus of POA holder with some fair price shop and the higher ups in the department should be investigated and the culprit be booked as per the law.”
The forum further proposed that the terms and condition laid down by the department should ensure that the contract work should not be given to a local contractor who cannot execute the work.
The NPRAAF expressed surprise that the contract work is “re-awarded or extended to the same contractor by the department intervally who is not competent to execute the work, simultaneously the contractor also keeps renewing the POA to the same person every 3 years and it illegally continues for over a decade now at the cost of the beneficiaries.” It cautioned that the NPRAAF will undertake democratic agitation any day without further notice as it has given enough time to the Department to rectify the same.
Meanwhile the NPRAAF claimed that the Director F&CS had “made a phone call to NPRAAF official on May 20, 2016 saying that, he took the issue raised by NPRAAF ‘personally.’” It however expressed concern that the issue “is still unresolved since there was no clarification/apology from the director as demanded by NPRAAF till today.”
