BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 30th January 2024: The state Government has decided to open 51 new fair price shops across the state to strengthen the public distribution system.
Addressing a press conference, Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury stated that currently, there are a total of 2,600 fair price shops in the entire state.
“During the last five years, a total of 252 new fair price shops have been opened in various divisions of the state. Based on this new decision of the Food Department, 51 more fair price shops will be opened. These additional shops will be established by dividing the existing fair price shops, which currently serve 800 or more ration cards, into segments catering to 400 cards each,” said the minister.
He explained that, according to the rules set by the state government, the minimum number of tagged ration cards required for opening a new fair price shop in rural or urban areas is 400.
Chowdhury highlighted some other important decisions of the Food Department, stating that all ration card holders in the state will receive an additional five (05) kg of rice per card at a cost of Rs 13 per kg for the next two months, i.e., February and March 2024.
“The decision has been made, and approximately 10,000 metric tons of rice will be allocated to the Food Department in these two months,” he told reporters.
While announcing another decision of the Food Department, Chowdhury mentioned that dairy products produced by Gomati Dairy Farm will now be distributed through fair price shops.
“As a pilot project, these items will be available at a total of 15 fair price shops identified in different areas of Sadar Sub-division in West District. The product range will include Gomati ice cream, curd, ghee, and paneer,” he added.
