Thiruvananthapuram: The pilot project for transporting foodgrain from the Food Corporation of India godowns to the public distribution depots and to the retail ration dealers in the state will be launched in Kollam district on March 9.
With this, the system of ration wholesalers would come to an end. Though the National Food Security Act was launched in the state in November last, the door delivery system could not be implemented as the mechanism for it could not be put in place.
As per the earlier norms, wholesale dealers were transporting ration articles from the FCI godowns and delivering them to the ration shops.
However, as per the new law, the responsibility is vested with the state government. As per the provisions of the National Food Security Act, foodgrain for March was procured from the FCI godowns and shifted to the godowns of the Supplyco in February itself. The present project is aimed at shifting the ration articles from the Supplyco godowns to the ration shops.
The government has already issued an order taking over the responsibility of transporting foodgrain from the agencies, said the office of the Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman.
The agencies have been served notices asking them to surrender the foodgrain in their stocks to the government. This system has been prevalent since 1966.
