Shimla: A large number of ration cardholders have been deprived of subsidised ration due to the closure of fair price shops ever since the rollout of the GST.
In Shimla, shutters on more than 50 per cent shops under the public distribution system (PDS) are down with a notice that the sale had been closed due to the GST.
Consumers are taking rounds of the PDS shops, but no ration is available and depot holders complain that the State Civil Supply Corporation is not supplying foodgrain to the shops that have not obtained the GST number.
There was a lack of coordination between the department, corporation and PDS shops and no focused effort had been made to ensure that all PDS shops got the GST number and depot holders were not involved in software testing, said a depot holder.
About 18 lakh cardholders, including Antyoday families, BPL families and above poverty line families, were getting subsidised foodgrain in Himachal and the government was spending about Rs 250 crore on the subsidised ration scheme.
“I went to a ration shop at Lower Bazaar thrice, but the ration was not supplied. Yesterday, I found the shop closed with a notice that the sale had been closed due to the GST,” said Rajesh, a cardholder.
There is an utter confusion on the issue as some district food and supply controller has stated that the foodgrains are supplied only to those PDS shops that have the valid GST number.
Even the medicine shops run by the Civil Supply Corporation at main hospitals in Shimla are not selling medicines. “We have medicines in store, but cannot sell them till the software is updated and a computerised billing system is in place,” said an employee working at a civil supply shop.
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