Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and Information, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, today directed the officers of the department to distribute sugar among the beneficiaries before the festival of Diwali.The Minister issued these directions while inspecting Central Food Store near University of Jammu here.“The beneficiaries in Jammu province should get their sugar quota before the occasion of Deepawali,” the Minister said, adding that the labourers working with the department should get their wages in time. He further directed the officers to immediately take up the renovation work of the godowns lying defunct in the store and display an inventory of the material available in the store.The Minister enquired about the status of stock position, lifting and transportation of food grains from the store and directed Assistant Director, Trade and Stores to maintain adequate stock in the food stores and work in close coordination with the TSOs for distribution of ration among the consumers on time.The Minister directed Jammu Municipal Corporation to clean the drain behind the Food Store for safe storage of food grains in the store. He also asked the concerned to maintain cleanliness in and around the food stores to avoid contamination of food grains.
During surprise inspection to the Office of Assistant Director (Mills) in Nehru Market, the Minister placed a Senior Assistant, FCS&CA under suspension for dereliction of duty. The Minister also asked the officers about the status of food grains available in the mills and directed for submitting month-wise detailed report about supply and lifting position from the mills.He further directed for conducting regular inspections to the mills for checking the hygienic conditions and maintaining transparency in the system.The Minister also visited the Directorate of FCS&CA Complex at Ware House and directed the Assistant Directors, City-I, City-II and Trade and Stores to immediately shift their offices in the Complex. Later, the Minister visited Directorate Office, Trikuta Nagar and checked the overall functioning of the office.The Minister directed the concerned Assistant Directors to conduct physical verification of all the food stores in Jammu and submit a comprehensive report to his office informing about the shortage, allocation and lifting status of food grains in the stores.He further asked the officers to maintain accountability and transparency in the functioning of the department and take appropriate action on the complaints received in the IT Cell of the department.Director, FCS&CA R.A Inqalabi, Joint Director, FCS&CA Mansoor Aslam, Joint Director, Legal Metrology V.S Sambyal, Deputy Director, Legal Metrology Manoj Prabhakar, Assistant Directors and other officers accompanied the Minister during the visit.