Movement of Ration Items Still Hit

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The distribution of rice under the Bakrid special quota has received a big jolt,   with the Food Corporation of India (FCI)officials failing to rectify the technical snag of the weighing bridge that has been hampering movement of grains for more than two weeks. But the FCI officials are sticking to their version that issues are sprouting as the State Government is showing reluctance in remitting the price and lifting foodgrains in time. According to ration dealers, the movement of foodgrains has been disrupted severely. But the FCI officials are downplaying the delay as ‘consequence of a technical fault’. The weighing bridge installed at Kazhakkoottam FCI depot has been malfunctioning since September 22. After the initial furore raised by the dealers, who were not able to lift the grains,FCI officials intervened and made some technical corrections.  But the dealers maintained that the bridge was still ill functioning. Thus, even the Bakrid rice distribution of 10 kg was badly affected and ration shops in the district failed to provide foodgrains to the hundreds of customers who had thronged the shops expecting that they wouldl be provided their quota of rice this year too. After persistent demand from the public and highlighting  of the issue by this newspaper, authorities were forced to intervene. A discussion was held on Tuesday in which FCI officials and concerned Civil Supplies officers, including Taluk Supply Officers (TSO) participated. But the discussion, which was expected to provide a major breakthrough, failed to achieve the desired effect. According to Nedumangad TSO Prasanna Kumar, the discussion has failed to evolve a positive result. “Even though, they (FCI) agreed to resume the delivery, it is not enough to end the food crisis. Earlier, 110-120 loads were lifted from the depots. Later, they downsized it to 80 loads. The Legal Metrology Department examined the bridge and found that the machine was showing weight less than the actual. So, FCI officials have brought down the lifting to 40 loads, citing that they have incurred a big loss by distributing extra grains to the dealers owing to a technical flaw,” he said. He also said that with the present decision of FCI, the scheduled quota of 1,600 loads for the district could not be lifted on time. This decision taken by FCI is expected to derail populist welfare schemes like ` One rice distribution scheme, subsidized rice for APL card holders, Anthyodhaya Anna Yojana Scheme and Annapoorna Scheme, which exclusively cater to the needy and deprived segments of the society. But the biggest hurdle is yet to come, as the officers of the FCI have already announced their decision to go on strike on Wednesday. On Thursday, it is Guru Nanak Jayanthi, a holiday for the Central Government employees. With just Friday as the only working day remaining in this week, movement of grains is likely to remain impaired. FCI Area Manager Dileep Kumar said that the    lethargy maintained by State Government in making the payments to the Central Government  was delaying the lifting. “After the allotment, the state machinery makes undue delay in payment. They create a big hullabaloo in the last 20 days to lift the goods. For the time being, we are delivering 80 loads. The lifting will return to full swing, once the weighing bridge, which is slightly defective, is calibrated and then sealed by the Legal Metrology Department,” he said.