Agartala, 7th August 2026 : Questions have been raised over the quality of food items supplied through fair price shops in Tripura after a dealer in the capital city found a consignment of allegedly rotten and foul-smelling lentils meant for consumers.
For the past several months, the government has reportedly stopped allocating sugar to fair price shops without any official announcement, while the quality of other essential commodities supplied through the public distribution system has allegedly deteriorated significantly.
The incident came to light on Friday at Fair Price Shop No. 6 in the Jaynagar area of Agartala, where a consignment of masoor dal (red lentils) arrived for distribution among ration card holders. After unloading around five to six sacks from the vehicle, the dealer opened the bags and found that the lentils were in extremely poor condition.
According to the dealer, the lentils were rotten, had a strong foul smell, and were completely unfit for human consumption. He said distributing such items among consumers could create serious problems and confirmed that the stock would not be sold.
“The quality of the lentils is so bad that they cannot even be given to animals. Consuming them may pose serious health risks,” the dealer said while speaking to the media.
The matter was immediately brought to the notice of the local councillor after the sacks were unloaded. The councillor assured that the issue would be reported to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) for necessary action.
The incident has sparked questions over the monitoring system of the Public Distribution System (PDS) and accountability for supplying substandard food items to consumers. Despite the allegations, no official from the sub-divisional administration or concerned department had issued any statement regarding the matter till the time of filing this report.
The development has also renewed criticism over the declining quality of services at fair price shops. When the present government came to power in 2018, it had promised to increase the availability of essential commodities and improve their quality. However, consumers have increasingly expressed dissatisfaction over the functioning of ration shops in recent years.
