A PDS shop in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Jan. 17: The department of food and consumer protection has decided to help those having difficulty in receiving the benefits of public distribution system (PDS).

It would set up a helpline on which people can share any problem related to PDS.

“We have asked Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Beltron) to set up the helpline and it is likely to become functional within a month,” food and consumer protection department minister Shyam Rajak told The Telegraph.

The proposed helpline would have a toll free number as well as a call centre. Anyone registering a complaint here would be given a registration number using which a complainant can pursue the matter and can seek details about the action taken on the complaint.

The complaint received would have the details like the name of the complainant, the nature of complaint and the officer assigned the job of looking into it.

“A system has been developed using which my cell would keep tabs on the progress made in the cases and if any officer is found to be lax in addressing the complaint, he or she would be taken to task,” Rajak said.

Another major step taken to make the functioning of PDS more effective in the NDA-II regime in Bihar is the setting up of a vigilance committees near every PDS shop, where residents have been made the members.

These members are alerted about the delivery of items in a given PDS shop through SMS and they are supposed to make other residents aware so that PDS shop owners cannot keep people in the dark.

“I am determined to introduce complete transparency in the functioning of PDS. Several other things would be introduced in future to ensure people get a regular supply of the designated items through PDS shops,” the minister said.

PDS apart, the food and consumer protection department has also take steps to protect the rights of consumers and one such step pertains to a proposal that talks of having consumer protection committees in each district.

“In every district, the district magistrate concerned would head the committee and it has to meet at least once in two months in which subjects related to consumers’ rights would be taken up for discussion and an action plan chalked out accordingly,” Rajak said.

He said a similar committee would function at the state- level which would meet once every three months. “I would personally chair the state-level meetings to keep tabs on the problems coming in the way of protecting the rights of the consumer,” Rajak said.

He stressed that a statewide campaign would soon be launched to make the people conscious of their rights.

The food and consumer protection department minister said it was equally important for the young generation to be aware of the rights as well. Therefore, consumer protection clubs would be set up across state colleges so that the students can learn about their rights, he added.