Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 8: The long wait of the consumers for the subsidized sugar is going to end next month as the State Government has shortlisted Maharashtra-based miller through the competitive bidding for making supply of this essential commodity and forwarded samples of sugar for analysis at the reputed labs of the country.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that a total of three sugar importers/millers responded to the NIT (Notice Inviting Tenders) floated by the Jammu and Kashmir Government in the month of June and a Maharashtra-based miller qualified both the financial and technical bid for supply of 84,400 metric tonnes of sugar to the State every year.
“Now, the samples of sugar submitted by the miller are being put to analysis at the reputed labs of the country and if the analysis comes in the favour of the miller the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department will prepare a memorandum to be placed before the Cabinet with prior consultation of Finance Department for final approval”, sources said while disclosing that report of analysis will come within next 10 days following which the papers will be prepared for the Cabinet.
Following the Cabinet approval, the CAPD will sign agreement with the miller and place orders for supply of sugar and hopefully this exercise would be completed during the current month itself so that from the next month consumers could get subsidized sugar, sources informed.
It is worthwhile to mention here that following sudden stoppage of levy sugar supply by the Food Corporation of India, the State Government constituted a high-level purchase committee for procurement of PDS sugar from open market. The committee headed by Administrative Secretary, CAPD, Mohd Abbas has now completed the entire exercise and remaining codal formalities would be completed on the receipt of analysis report.
In response to a question, sources said that Finance Department was required to be consulted before preparing Cabinet memorandum as financial burden in the form of duties and transportation of sugar from Maharashtra up to Jammu and Srinagar stores would have to be borne by the State Government. “The consumers will get sugar at a cost of Rs 13.50 per kilogramme on the pattern of practice in vogue prior to stoppage of levy sugar by the FCI”, sources said.
“It would be the responsibility of the miller to transport the sugar to the Central Godown Shaheed Gunj, Srinagar and Central Godown Chatha, Jammu from Maharashtra and this condition was part of the several stipulations of the tender notice”, sources said.
When contacted, Administrative Secretary, CAPD, Mohd Abbas confirmed that samples of the sugar have been sent for analysis and remaining codal formalities would be completed on the receipt of report within next 10 days. “We are hopeful of making subsidized sugar available to consumers from next month”, he said, adding “the exercise took time as the Purchase Committee strictly adhered to the laid down procedure so that there would not be any problem at the later stage”.
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