Food & Civil Supplies Page
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Food & Civil Supplies Department
Shri. P. Thilothaman Minister for Food and Civil Supplies | OFFICE Room No: 644 2nd Floor South Block Secretariat Statue, Thiruvananthapuram Tel: 0471-2333371 Mob: 9447584400 |
Food & Civil Supplies Department | Ground Floor North Sandwich Block Secretariat Thiruvananthapuram |
Smt. Mini Antony IAS Special Secretary | Room No. 379 (A) 1st Floor Main Block, Secretariat Ph-0471-2322475, 2518880 M: 8301928099 E-mail: secy.food@kerala.gov.in |
Website | www.civilsupplieskerala.gov.inExternal website which opens in a new window |
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About
The Civil Supplies Department discharges the important responsibilities of Public Distribution, enforcement of markets discipline and promotion of consumer awareness and protection of their interest. In the 60s and 70s it won many accolades for the pioneering achievements in the implementation of Universal Rationing System.The Department of Civil Supplies functions under the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Kerala.
Kerala State has the privilege of having the best system of Public Distribution in the whole country. The system is evenly spread over the whole state without any distinction between urban or rural. To ensure equitable distribution of the food grains at a fairly low cost to all people especially to the weaker sections of the population. There is a very good net work of wholesale and retail outlets for the distribution of rationed articles under the Public Distribution System. In each Taluk, with every AWD and KWD, a set of ARDs are permanently linked. Under this system, the requirement of each AWD and KWD in the State is fixed and this facilitates the District Supply Officer who is the Departmental Head of the District to make allocation of the Rationed Articles to the Taluks in each district and the Taluk Supply Officer in turn to make allocation to the AWDs and KWDs in his Taluk. State Average of Ration cards per Ration shop is 400. On the supply side, there are 14203 retail outlets at present, in the state.
The Central Norm of one Fair price shop for 2,000 population has already been achieved in Kerala and normally no card holders here need travel more than 2 Kilometer to reach his fair price shop even in the remotest area. However, new fair price shops are being opened mostly in tribal and hilly areas as and when found necessary reviewing the needs of the people of the locality and giving preference to Co-operative sector/ women/ unemployed rural youth/ SC/ ST. Also the department has a state wide monitoring mechanism to watch the availability and prices of various essential commodities so as to prevent food adulteration, hoarding and price hike etc. Timely actions were initiated wherever necessary to prevent such incidence.
Mission & Vision
Activities of the Food and Civil Supplies Department attained tremendous achievement during the past three years. Public Distribution System was made more attractive. The ration cardholders deserted the ration shops during 2002-2005 due to the poor quality of ration articles. It was noticed that only two percent of card holders approached the ration shops at that time. Now it is increased to 55 to 60 percentage. This is because of the quality of food grains distributed through PDS. It is the first time in the history of Kerala that the Government of Kerala has started supplying rice at Rs.2 per KG to two lakhs of Below Poverty Line families.
Organization Chart
The Public Distribution System in Kerala is enforced by the State Civil Supplies Department which is under the exclusive charge of the Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Secretary to Government, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. Under him, there is the Director of Civil Supplies who is the Chief Executive Head of the Department. There is a Controller of Rationing with State wide jurisdiction on matters of Rationing and a Controller of Rationing (Enforcement) having the same status to implement the rules and policies and Assistant Secretaries and staff to assist the Director on administrative matters. There is a Chief Accounts Officer at the Headquarters to look after the accounts. There are four Deputy Controllers of Rationing with zonal jurisdictions whose functions mainly are inspection of subordinate offices and to conduct enquiries on complaints against the dealers and members of the staff etc. There is a Control Room functioning in the Directorate under the supervision of a Statistical Officer who is responsible to collect statistical data required for the effective functioning of the Department. In each district, there is a District Supply Officer who is the head of the Civil Supplies administration of each Revenue District. The concerned District Collector also supervises the work of the District Supply Officer. Under the District Supply Officer, there is a Taluk Supply Officer in each Taluk, who is assisted by Rationing Inspectors. The Three city Corporations of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode are further divided into two zones each, and a City Rationing Officer is put in charge of each zone. A rationing Inspector has jurisdiction over a Firka where 30 to 40 Retail Ration Shops are functioning. His duties are mainly to sanction rationed articles indented by the Ration dealers and to check and supervise the functioning of each outlet. All the Ration Shops are being inspected by the Officers frequently to guard against malpractice. A Vigilance Officer having state-wide jurisdiction is also been working under the direct supervision of the Director of Civil Supplies
Services / Activities
1. Food & Civil Supplies (A) Department
Phone:0471 2518524
2. Food and Civil Supplies (B) Department
Phone:0471 2518770
3. Food and Civil Supplies (C) Department
Phone: 0471 2518734
Phone: 0471-2518360
Phone: 0471-2517114
Schemes and Programmes
Major Functions of the department
- Issue of new Ration Cards
- Implementation of Smart card in selected ARDs
Public Distribution System
The Civil supplies department is mainly concerned with the implementation of schemes connected with distribution of Rice, Wheat, Sugar and Kerosene. Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is now followed by the State. The stock of PDS items were allotted by the Central Government is lifted through AWDs and Distributed through ARDs; on the basis of family Ration Cards.
The families are categorised as Below Poverty Line(BPL) and Above Poverty Line(APL).
- A. Distribution for BPL Cards
BPL card holders will get 35 Kg. of Rice @ Rs. 6.20 per month and the Sugar issue is limited only to BPL card holders now except festival times. Sugar, Kerosene and Wheat will be issued at APL rates to all families under BPL scheme.(See chart). Poorest BPL families may get the following benefits also.
- B. Annapurna
The Scheme is intended for the benefit of senior citizens above the age of 65 and it is a centrally sponsored scheme. The scheme was implemented in the state with effect from 14-2-2001 and 44579 senior citizens come under the coverage. They are eligible to draw 10 Kg. Rice per month free of cost. Identification of persons is completed in all Panchayats. The allotment under this scheme for a month is 450 tonne.
- C. Anthyodaya Anna Yojana
This is centrally sponsored scheme. The scheme is intended for the poorest of poor. 238200 house hold in the state identified as the beneficiaries of the scheme. The beneficiary families are entitled for 35 Kg. of Rice per month at a highly subsidised rate of Rs. 3/- per Kg. The identification of such families is going on and is completed in almost all panchayats. The transportation and other incidental expenses of the implementation of the scheme are met by the State Government. Central Allotment for this scheme is 8047 Metric tonnes of Rice per month.
- D. Distribution to SC/ST/OBC Hostels
Distribution of Rationed articles to SC/ST and OBC hostels were also done by this department. Eligible hostels can apply for the scheme.
- E. Distribution to APL families
APL families will get all the rationed articles except Sugar from the ARDs which was stopped by the Central Government since April 2001. But sugar will be issued to APL families also during Festival Seasons. For the Issue price of different rationed articles please see the chart given below.
- Enforcement of Various Acts and Rules
With a view to protect the interests of the consumers, various Control Orders were issued under the Essential Commodities Act and these Acts are administered by the Civil Supplies Department in the State to detect malpractices in the Civil Supplies front and to take remedial measures under the leadership of the Controller of Rationing (Enforcement). In order to curb the price hike, hoarding etc. various measures have been implemented as follows:
a)Open Market Raids
b)Surprise Checks
c)Inspection in AWD, KWD and ARD
Important Officials
V. K. Bahuleyan, Additional Secretary | 0471- 2518225 |
Related Websites
Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (SUPPLYCO) | www.supplycokerala.com |
Department of Civil Supplies | www.civilsupplieskerala.gov.in |
Food Craft Institute website | www.fcikerala.org |
National Centre for HACCP Certification | www.haccpindia.org |