R. Sakkarapani. File
| Photo Credit: G. Moorthy
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R. Sakkarapani on Friday (March 21, 2025) told the Assembly that action has been taken on 97,535 complaints received from beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS) since 2021. These complaints were lodged through complaint boxes and registers placed in Fair Price Shops.
The complaints included delay in opening ration shops, selling essential commodities at higher prices, and distribution of poor quality of commodities, the Minister said, responding to Killiyoor MLA and Congress floor leader S. Rajesh Kumar.
The DMK government has opened nearly 3,000 new full-time and part-time ration shops. As of March 2025, Tamil Nadu has 2,25,59,224 crore ration cards. A total of 51,327 applications have been accepted and the cards will be issued soon, he said. A total of 18,09,677 new ration cards have been issued to beneficiaries since 2021, and 1,67,795 applications for ration cards are under consideration. Besides, 16.85 lakh Non-Priority Household (NPHH) ration cards have been converted into Priority Household (PHH) ration cards, based on applications in the last four years.
Meanwhile, Minister for Municipal Administration and Water supply K.N. Nehru, responding to Karaikudi MLA S. Mangudi, said the government is considering extending the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) to the areas once part of village panchayats and subsequently merged with nearby municipalities or corporations.
Published – March 21, 2025 05:02 pm IST
