After
a substantial course of trials, the A & N Administration's Directorate of
Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs finally rolled out its ambitious pilot
project for distribution of fortified wheat flour/Atta under Targeted Public
Distribution System (TPDS) in South Andaman, excluding Little Andaman on
Aug. 16, 2013, here. This has come as a sure respite for the Islands' Atta
lovers, who have been going through tough times with the soaring prices of
packed Atta, of late. Packed neatly in a white coloured sachet, the 'PDS
Fortified Wheat Flour Atta', manufactured by Associated Industries, R-45,
Industrial Estate, Dollygunj, Port Blair, has already been made available for
sale to the ration card holders at the counters of a few select Fair Price
Shops (FPS) in the city, to start with.
The 'PDS Fortified Wheat Flour Atta' is now available at these few select FPSs
at Rs. 15 for Above Poverty Line (APL), Rs. 12.40 for Below Poverty Line (BPL)
and Rs. 10.35 for Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) categories.
Speaking to this correspondent, the Director, (CS & CA), Mr. Som Naidu
informed that to begin with, the scheme is being implemented for a period of
three months on a trial basis in South Andaman, excluding Little Andaman and
will be extended further, depending upon the response received from the
consumers. "We will cover the entire South Andaman district in the next
ten days. The two other districts will also be covered in due course of time.
He further said that the card holders can purchase the packed Atta and whole
wheat from their respective FPS on a 50-50 basis.
As per the present plan, the customers of various categories can purchase half
of the total quantity of whole wheat issued to them in the form of packed Atta
i.e. if a family gets 8 Kg of whole wheat per month, it now has the option of
purchasing 4 Kg of whole wheat and 4 Kg of packed Atta. The customers cannot
purchase full 8 Kg of packed Atta in place of whole wheat, as of now, due to
shortage of supply during the three-month trial period," he added.
"Manufactured with the help of a pneumatic mill, the 'PDS Fortified Wheat
Flour Atta' contains Vitamin A, Folic acid and Iron and a lab certification is
sought from the manufacturer in a bid to verify the standards as per the Food
Safety & Standard Act, 2006, on a monthly basis, during the trial period,
which will be changed to every 3 months, later on," enlightened Mr.
Rajesh, who looks after the distribution of food grains at the Directorate.
Regarding a green coloured square patch observed in the middle of every packet
of the packed Atta, Mr. Naidu said that initially it was planned to imprint the
state emblem of the nation, the Ashoka Chakra on every packet, but a bit of
circumspection was exercised about the likelihood of the empty packets being
stamped upon, once discarded in garbage and hence the emblem, already printed
on the first lot of the packets was masked.
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