Dimapur, April 6 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has urged the Commissioner & Secretary, Department of Food and Civil Supplies (F&CS), Nagaland, to publicise the list of beneficiaries under the Tide-Over category within 10 days.
This request came after the department reportedly claimed, in a reply to a Right To Information (RTI) application, that it does not possess the names of beneficiaries under the Tide-Over category.
According to the RPP, this is “surprising” as the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in a letter dated December 7, 2015, had directed the States to “digitise the beneficiary database and upload it on the state portal before the implementation of the NFSA, 2013.”
Again, in another letter on January 27, 2023, the Ministry directed state governments to “place the list of the identified eligible households in the public domain and display it prominently,” the RPP stated.
Meanwhile, according to the party, another strange claim made by the department was that the “distribution of rice is done by the stockists themselves.”
Whatever the case may be, the stockists/handling agents/carriage contractors should be in possession of the names of the beneficiaries. Therefore, the department is requested to upload these names in the public domain, such as the department website, state portal, etc., the RPP added.
The RPP termed it a “serious” matter, as the issue pertains to the distribution of 3,17,563.04 MT of Tide-Over rice issued by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs to the state between the years 2018 and (October) 2024.
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