AMPATI: The State Government has blamed the Centre for striking sugar off the list of PDS items.
During the felicitation ceremony of wholesalers and fair price dealers at Ampati on Thursday, the chief minister said Meghalaya has been the only state in the country to provide packaged sugar under the PDS programme despite the Centre’s recent decision to withdraw it.
“The Centre has failed to listen to us and discontinued the distribution of sugar under PDS. But we have decided to work out the modalities from our own resources to continue providing sugar apart from rice,” he added.
As part of the programme, 3 kg of sugar was given to every household prior to the withdrawal.
“Though we will not be able to provide 3 kg per household, we will continue to give sugar at 1 kg per household from the State’s own resources,” he added.
The chief minister also motivated the wholesalers and dealers saying they should consider their service as a social service and not an enterprise. However, through this service they can learn the art of entrepreneurship and expand their horizon to building successful business models.
The chief minister distributed certificates of appreciation to the wholesalers and fair-price shop dealers of South West Garo Hills district for their contribution in successfully implementing the National Food Security Act, 2013.
