Dimapur: The Rising People’s Party (RPP) on Sunday urged the Nagaland food and civil supplies department to publicize the list of beneficiaries for the distribution of rice under the tide-over category within 10 days in the interest of transparency and accountability.
In a release, the party said the matter is serious as the issue pertains to the distribution of 3,17,563.04 MT of tide-over rice issued by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs to the state between 2018 and (October) 2024.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Quoting RTI documents, it said it was surprising that the department claimed not to have the names of beneficiaries under the tide-over category.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution directed the states to “digitize the beneficiary database and upload it to the state portal before implementing the NFSA, 2013,” as per letter no. F.NO.15-33/2015-NFSA dated 7th December 2015.
Further, the RPP said, as per the ministry’s letter no. F. No. 15-62/2022-NFSA dated 27/01/2023, “The state government shall place the list of the identified eligible households in the public domain and display it prominently.”
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The party said the department made another strange claim, stating, “The stockists themselves handle the distribution of rice.”
“Be as it may, the stockiest/handling agents/ carriage contractors should have the names of the beneficiaries,” it said.
The party, therefore, urged the commissioner and secretary of the department to upload these names in the public domain, such as the department website, state portal, etc.