the goan I network
PANAJI
Minister for Civil Supplies Govind Gaude has said that the State will take a decision on phasing out fair price shops and instead opt for the system of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) as per the instructions of the Central government by the month end.
Speaking to reporters, Gaude said that currently the consultations are on and decision would be taken only after consulting all the stakeholders in a bid to ensure that no one is affected.
"If we implement the Centre's guidelines in total all the 400+ fair price shops across the State will have to shut. I will take everyone into confidence on this. By the end of this month, we will have to come to a conclusion on this and convey our decision to the Centre," Gaude said.
Direct Benefit Transfer or DBT is a system in which instead of giving the people essential commodities like grain, sugar and cooking oil at a ‘fair price' through a network of fair price shops, the people will have money deposited in their accounts.
Gaude admitted that many poorer families continued to depend on the network of fair price shops and while the DBT system was more effective in ensuring there is no black marketing of the produce, pilferage and that the resources will be more effectively used, the people need to have confidence in the DBT system.
