Won’t lift Feb quota if dues not cleared, warn FPS owners

PANJIM/QUEPEM: The All Goa Fair Price Shop Owners and Cooperative Society Association on Saturday warned the State government that they will neither lift nor distribute the February quota of the food grains if their three-year dues/accounts are not cleared at the earliest.

Speaking to reporters at Azad Maidan, Panjim, the Association member Gandhi Henriques said that their dues and commission for the last three years are pending. He said that they had paid in advance to purchase rice and wheat and that the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

The department was supposed to reimburse the amount subsequently. But the department has failed to clear the dues and commission pending for last three years, he said adding that managing fair price shops has become non-viable.

Fair price shop owners claimed that they had distributed the free grains quota during Covid-19 times by spending money from their own pockets on logistics and other expenses.

“Pay our three-year dues and settle our account for distributing food grains by some fair price shop owners free of cost. We don’t know how much the department is paying,” they demanded.

The Association will also submit a representation to this effect to the Director of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs on Monday. The Association had also asked the Department to relook into the dynamics of the Public Distribution System (PDS) to make running fair price shops viable in the State. 

According to them, the then director in 2019 had assured them that government will increase their food grains quota for APL cardholders from seven kg to 15 kg and will provide doorstep delivery as per the National Food Security Act and to appoint State food commissioner but nothing has been fulfilled.

Meanwhile, the fair price shop owners from Quepem taluka on Saturday demanded that the government clear their pending dues and commission so as to tide over their financial crisis.

The fair rice shop owners said that they had accorded priority in distributing food grains to beneficiaries of Priority Households (PHH) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) rice quota. 

“We have already paid the amount to Civil Supplies Department after which we distributed free quota of PHH and AAY but till date monies and commission is not paid to us till date,” they said.

Fair price shop owner Anand Raut Desai from Assolda said that they distributed PHH and AAY rice quota but till date monies and commission is awaited. He said that most fair price shop owners are now facing financial crisis and finding it difficult to run their shops if the government fails to reimburse the money.

Another fair price shop owner Vishal Desai said that since Covid pandemic they have been distributing free extra quota of food grains for beneficiaries but the dues and commission are yet to be reimbursed by the department.