PANAJI
The Goa government notified an all-bureaucrat “State Level Steering Committee” which will be headed by Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel to monitor the distribution of fortified rice under the TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System).
The development gains significance in the wake of the recent move of the Civil Supplies Director Gopal Parsekar appealing to ration card holders of the below poverty line (BPL) to give them up and register themselves as APL cardholders if their family income exceeds Rs 50,000 per annum.
Parsekar’s missive was also directed to APL cardholders who have been directed to surrender their ration cards if their family annual incomes are above Rs 5-lakh.
Apart from Goel, the steering committee has Parsekar as its member-secretary and includes the government’s Secretaries holding charge of the departments of Civil Supplies, Health, Women and Child, Food and Drugs Administration and Education.
The committee will also monitor the progress of other welfare schemes including ICDS, PM-POSHAN and is mandated to compulsorily meet once every quarter.
