Grain supplies set to resume

The meeting in progress in Siliguri. (Passang Yolmo)

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri, Oct. 4: Bengal food minister Jyotipriyo Mullick today promised to resume the supply of grains to the hills from tomorrow, a move being perceived as an attempt to prove that the government is standing by the people after over 100 days of hardship because of the strike.

Mullick, who held a meeting with ration dealers from the hills in the presence of cabinet colleagues Gautam Deb and Rabindranath Ghosh in Siliguri, said: "We will send 100 truckloads of foodgrain to the hills on Thursday. The grains will be distributed through ration shops from Friday."

There are 690 ration shops in the hills and around 9 lakh beneficiaries. In total, the requirement of foodgrain in the hills is around 9,500 metric tonnes and each beneficiary receives 11 kilos of grains - rice and wheat together - a month.

During the statehood agitation, the supply of foodgrain to the hills had suffered because truck drivers had refused to ferry commodities fearing attacks on them. Statehood supporters had, however, accused the government of holding back supplies of essentials to press the agitators to withdraw the strike.

"But now that normality has been restored in the hills, we have decided to resume the public distribution system," Mullick said.

Sources said the minister's assurance was aimed at boosting the confidence of the hill people in the government.

"The idea is to prove that the state is sincerely standing by the common people. Earlier, it had passed a message that it wants the GTA to function and that there should be peace and normality in the hills. Now, a prompt supply of foodgrain can help both the state and Trinamul nullify the allegations levelled by the Bimal Gurung camp that the state has a vindictive attitude towards the hill population," said an observer.