* Stocked with fresh food grains for several yrs
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Nov 7: In what could be termed as criminal negligence on the part of officials of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, Rs 1.33 crore worth rotten and sub-standard ration has been found lying in the stores of the department in Leh district during the past several years. As the decayed ration stocked with the fresh food grains poses grave risk to the health of consumers, the district administration has approached the senior authorities of the department for immediate disposal of the rotten ration.
Reliable sources in the Civil Secretariat told EXCELSIOR that officials of the CAPD Department deployed in various sale centres/stores in Leh district despite being aware of the fact that huge ration had turned rotten and sub-standard never brought the situation to the notice of the district administration and senior authorities of the department during the past several years.
Rather, they kept on stocking the fresh food-grains with the rotten and sub-standard ration (rice, atta, sugar and salt) every year by ignoring the fact that such a practice was fraught with the danger of infecting the fresh stocks and causing health hazards for the consumers, sources said.
“The rotten food issue came to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner, Simrandeep Singh through an officer of the district administration in the recent past and he personally inspected each and every store of the CAPD Department to assess the ground situation”, they said, adding “after inspection the Deputy Commissioner sought immediate report from the Assistant Director, CAPD Department, Leh”.
The Assistant Director, in a detailed report, informed the Deputy Commissioner that there was huge stock of sub-standard/rotten food grains in various stores/sale centres in the district which was declared as unfit for human as well as livestock consumption by the Public Analyst, Public Health Laboratory Kashmir in 2007 vide report No. CAPD/Sample/Deteriorated/1183-87 dated September 17, 2007, sources said, adding “the Assistant Director, however, could not specify the reasons behind keeping the rotten and sub-standard ration in the stores despite being found unfit for consumption”.
The officer has cited bad and improper storage conditions in some rented sale counters and flash floods of 2010 as the reasons behind such huge stocks of food grains getting deteriorated and unfit for consumption, sources informed.
On the receipt of report, the Deputy Commissioner convened a meeting of Assistant Director CAPD, Chief Animal Husbandry Officer, Chief Medical Officer and District Treasury Officer and finally the matter was recommended to the Administrative Department, CAPD Civil Secretariat, Jammu, for issuance of orders for disposal of food grains, sources said.
“Besides preventing the fresh stocks from getting infected the disposal of rotten food grains would provide sufficient space for the fresh incoming stocks”, sources said quoting the recommendation of the Committee.
According to the official figures, 5083.89 kilograms of sub-standard and 2396.01 kilograms of rotten rice was found in the CAPD stores in Leh, Nyoma, Nubra, Khaltsi, Kharu and Durbuk blocks. Similarly, 4489.11 kg sub-standard and 1779.21 kg rotten atta was found in these stores while as 83.27 kg sub-standard and 59.27 kg rotten sugar and 956.95 kg sub-standard and 32.05 kg rotten salt was found.
The total value of rotten and sub-standard ration has been worked out at Rs 1.33 crore.
When contacted, Secretary Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, Abbas Dar said, “whenever department will give approval for disposal of rotten and sub-standard food grains you will come to know”.
He, however, said that there are standing instructions to the department’s officers for making recommendations for disposal of sub-standard food grains being detected in any part of the State. “There is nothing new in case of Leh district”, he added.
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