FPS agents decry non-release of food grain, warn of stir
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Mamang

Ukhrul, March 12 2023: Fair price shop (FPS) agents' associations operating in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts have strongly decried the non-release of food grain allocated under NFSA for February, while threatening to launch intense agitation if the state government does not release the food grains at the earliest.

Discontent with the government's move, the FPS agents' associations of Ukhrul, Chingai and Phungyar assembly constituencies held a press conference in Ukhrul town recently to voice their grievances and also announced their future course of action.

Ukhrul FPS Agents' Association president Luingam Lunghar stated that the e-POS application has not been fully functional in hill areas due to poor internet connectivity.

"Because of this, agents in the hill districts were provided with the option of manual/of-fline registration and we have been carrying out 90 per cent of transactions using this manual/offline registration without causing any discrepancies to e-POS registration," he said.

According to Lunghar, Ukhrul district supply officer told the agents that the chief minister declared in the state assembly recently that the allocation for February had lapsed for the entire state as 50 per cent of the state's quota had been deducted for not using the biometric system.

"This came as a shock because we have been doing regular transactions through manual registration and the delay has also caused immense hardship to many impoverished households who are dependent on the PDS ration for their survival," he rued.

Lunghar continued that considering the plights of the poor, the associations urge CM N Biren to take necessary steps to ensure timely release of the allocated food grain.

However, in the event of the government failing to do so, they would be compelled to resort to intense agitation, he warned.

Lunghar also appealed to the CM, about the non-release of transportation charges and margin money under NFSA and PMGKY by the contractor concerned since April of 2022.He mentioned that the agents have repeatedly apprised the CAF&PD minister about the contractor but no action has been taken up till date.

Lunghar further asked the CM to take action against the transport in-charge for breaching the norms, which require the contractor/in-charge to be present when the rice is lifted from the FCI godown, Ukhrul and disperse the transportation fees to the agents.

He requested the CM to take immediate action to redress the long pending grievances of the FPS agents and ensure that they are duly compensated for their work.

Meanwhile, Lunghar said that information has just been received from Ukhrul DSO that a backlog of margin money under NFSA from April of 2022 till January has been sanctioned.

However, margin money under the erstwhile PMGKY for the same period has not been sanctioned till date.

44-Ukhrul FPS Agents' Association has 101 agents, while the 45-Chingai FPS Agents' Association and the 43-Phungyar FPS Agents' Association have 73 and 54 respectively.

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