'Award stringent punishments to ration agents/contractors responsible for rice embezzlement'

IMPHAL, Aug 28
All Manipur Nupi Marup urged the Government to award stringent punishments to ration agents and contractors who are responsible of the embezzlement of rice.
In a press release, the All Manipur Nupi Marup expressed discontent that the issue of misappropriation of rice under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and National Food Security Act (NFSA) was brought up in the State Assembly however no concrete measures have been taken up to resolve the issue.
The people of Manipur is gruelling due to the adverse effects of COVID-19 thereby depriving many of their regular source of income and amid such a situation, the due rice share under PMGKAY and NFSA are not provided to the genuine beneficiaries which is really unfortunate, the women body lamented.
It may be noted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that 5kgs of rice per month will be provided for free to the beneficiaries of PMGKAY and NFSA till November this year and directed the States to implement the same.
But in Manipur, issues crept up where many complained that the full share of rice are not provided to the beneficiaries and at times rice share of 2-3 months are pending.