BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): Minister for food and civil supplies and consumer protection, Bisahulal Singh, has said that procuring food grains from the farmers at reasonable rates and reaching them to the needy was one of the primary tasks of any government. “I can say with pride that the Madhya Pradesh Government is performing both these tasks with remarkable success,” he said.
Singh was speaking after inaugurating a function to mark the World Consumer Rights Day at the Minto Hall on Tuesday.
The minister said that the government had purchased wheat, paddy and other farm produce from all willing farmers and had ensured that during the pandemic period, people of the state do not face any shortage of food.
“We supplied free food grains to 4.90 crore residents of the state during the Corona period. Every person was entitled to 25 kg of food grains per month,” he said. The minister also referred to the state government’s decision to supply PDS food grains at the doorstep to the 1.57 crore residents of 89 tribal blocks in the state. “A local tribal will be chosen for the job. We will provide a vehicle to him on loan with interest subsidy,” he said.
Chairman, MP State Civil Supplies Corporation, Pradyumna Singh Lodhi, said that the protection of consumer rights was of paramount importance. However, he cautioned that the consumers, too, should be truthful and honest while making complaints to the consumer rights protection bodies.
The minister presented awards to three NGOs for raising consumer awareness. He also gave away prizes to the winners of state-level essay and poster-making competitions organized for school students on the topic “Consumer Protection Act 2019 and Rights of Consumers”.
The first three prizes in the NGO category went to National Centre for Human Resettlement and Environment, Bhopal, All India Consumer Education Society, Gwalior, and Akhil Bharatiya Upbhokta Utthan Sangathan, Agar Malwa. They have presented Rs 1.11 lakh, Rs 51,000, and Rs 25,000 respectively.
Harshita Malaviya from Dewas, Paridhi Shah (Jhabua), and Shruti Singh (Bhopal) won the first three prizes in the essay competition. The winners of poster-making competitions were Tarannum Sheikh and Priya Das from Bhopal and Gaurav Parmar from Jhabua.
The first, second and third prize winners got Rs 6,000, Rs 4000 and Rs 2,000 in cash respectively and commendation certificates.
FCI stall best
An exhibition comprising 20 stalls was also put up on the occasion. Of them, the stalls of Food Corporation of India, MP Food and Drugs Administration and Controller of Weights and Measures, MP were awarded the first, second and third prizes respectively. The expo sought to make the consumers aware of the various ways in which they are cheated while buying various commodities and services.
