Ensure nutritious food to the public: TSFC chairman tells officials

Adilabad: The Telangana State Food Commission Chairman Kommula Tirumala Reddy said that the responsibility of providing nutritious food lies with the government for protecting the health of the citizens. He convened a meeting with Collector Sikta Patnaik, district authorities of various departments, Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) members and sarpanchs here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Tirumala Reddy stated that the National Food Security Act, brought for ensuring quality food to the citizens in 2013, was being implemented in Telangana since 2015. He opined that the onus of supplying nutritious food was on the government.

The chairman urged the officials concerned to effectively implement the Act and protect the public, which is the wealth of the nation. The Act envisages satiating the hunger of the poor and preventing deaths caused by starvation. He wanted the district authorities to create basic amenities and to form village, mandal, district and State level vigilance committees for checking irregularities in the public distribution scheme.

Tirumala Reddy further asked the authorities to ensure facilities to supply fine quality groceries to financially poor families at affordable prices. He told them to fill up vacant posts of fair price shop dealers in the district. He assured to bring challenges of the dealers to the notice of the government. He sought the officials of the department of women and child welfare to provide nutritious food supplements to children and pregnant women.

Tirumal said that Telangana accounted for 2.90 lakh white ration cards and told the officials concerned to conduct a social audit of food grains given to Anganwadi centres. He wanted the authorities of the Civil Supplies department to visit fair price shops every month to monitor the implementation of the food security Act. He asked them not to show negligence in discharging duties.

Collector Sikta Patnaik said steps were taken for procuring paddy grains from farmers and to distribute food grains to holders of food security cards. She stated that measures were being taken to ensure every eligible person gets the food grains. She said that steps would be taken for making sure that officials effectively discharge duties, as suggested by the commission.

Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA)-Utnoor Project Officer Bhavesh Misra, Additional Collectors Rizwan Basha Shaik and N Nataraj, Revenue Divisional Officer Rajeshwar, District Rural Development Officer Kishan, District Medical and Health Officer Dr Narender, DEO Ravinder Reddy, District Welfare Officer Milka and ZP Chief Executive Officer Ganapath, DPO Srinivas and many other officials were present.