Traffic was disrupted in Darjeeling town as residents of Pulbazar and Bijanbari gheraoed the office of the subdivisional controller of food and supplies. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Sept. 9: After ration supply reached a zero for five consecutive weeks under the public distribution system, the heat was felt in the hills today as residents of Bijanbari and Pulbazar hot-footed to Darjeeling and gheraoed the office of the subdivisional controller of food and supplies. All major thoroughfares in the town were also blocked.

The five weeks of PDS failure have pulled up the number of non-supply weeks to 20 since January this year, even though the godowns of Food Corporation of India in Darjeeling have enough stock in hand.

The blockade was removed in the evening after the controller gave a written assurance that the problem would be solved “within a short time”.

Prakash Thing, GNLF leader and councillor of DGHC, said: “If the state government cannot provide funds, it should allow the Modified Ration dealers to collect the ration from the FCI godown on advance payment.”

He said the deputy secretary, food and supplies, had allowed a private company to lift flour from the FCI godown after making an advance payment and supplying it through PDS channels.

“While a private company has been given the go-ahead, it is surprising that the state is not allowing the modified dealers to do the same,” he said.

“The hill people do not need flour. They are in desperate need of rice, sugar and kerosene. The government’s policy of allowing a single company to buy stock from the FCI is unjust,” he said.

The supply of flour has been reportedly regularised after the company was given the green signal to make advance payments to FCI.

In Darjeeling, where not many acres are used for cultivation of foodgrain, more than 80 per cent of the town’s population is dependent on the PDS. The hills have been accorded a special status for distribution of ration to due to this reason.

The standard fare a card holder is entitled to under the PDS every week is — a kg of rice at Rs 7,100 gm of sugar at Rs 13.50 per gm; 250 gm of wheat and 700 gm of flour at the rates of Rs 5 and 6.

A litre of kerosene at the rate of Rs 9.30 is also supplied every month.

According to the food and supplies department, the RBI had stopped the flow of cash credit to the department, which in turn has made it impossible for them to make advance payments to the FCI and procure foodgrain for ration supply.

The officials, however, admitted that there was a “lack of initiative” on the part of the state government to solve the issue. “In view of the state being unable to supply money for ration, we had sent a proposal that the MR dealers be allowed to lift rations on advance payment. But the government just sat on the proposal and till now there has been no response from the higher authorities concerned,” claimed Thing.