Govt abolishes 'Inspector Raj' system to supply rations

In a bid to expedite the distribution process, Delhi government today abolished the more than four decades old system of 'Inspector Raj' in which an inspector used to first open the sale of rations before being distributed.
In the 'Inspector Raj' system, the FPS licencee was required to inform the office of Food Supplies Officer about the arrival of ration, who in turn would depute an inspector to visit the FPS and verify the commodity received and then order for opening of sale.
"Government has abolished the system of opening of the sale in each ration shop by the Inspectors of the Department before the ration could be sold to the beneficiaries," Sajjan Singh Yadav, Secretary Cum Commissioner, Food Supplies & Consumer Affairs, said.

Yadav said that due to old system, the ration card holders had to wait for getting their ration till the sale was declared open by the Inspector of the Department.
At present, there are 2400 ration shops across the national capital and 17 lakh people have ration cards.
"Old system resulted in delays resulting in multiple visits of ration card holders to the FPS to get ration, harassment to FPS licences, and there were also complaints of malpractices," Yadav said.

The official said that Department will also ensure that the ration commodities for a particular month reach the FPS before the beginning of the month and the sale will be deemed to be open in all the FPSs on the first day of the month automatically.

"In case the ration does not reach the FPS before the beginning of the month, the sale will be deemed to be open automatically after 48 hours of the receipt of ration at the FPS. Ration card holders can go to the FPS on any day from 9 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 7 PM to get their ration," Yadav added.
According to the department, FPS licencee is also not required to inform the office of the FSO and there will be no need for the Inspector to physically visit the shop and open the sale, resulting in saving of time and energy of both the staff of the Department as well as of the FPS licences.

"It will also eliminate any chances of harassment, malpractice and corruption in the system. The decision has met a long pending demand of FPS licences to abolish the archaic system of opening of sale by the inspectors," he added.