A major scandal has been uncovered in Tripura’s Public Distribution System (PDS), revealing a deep-rooted conspiracy between certain Food Department officials and contractors. This covert financial arrangement is believed to have been manipulating the procurement, supply, and distribution of essential commodities. The shocking revelation has sparked public outrage and calls for a thorough investigation into the corrupt practices.
The scandal came to light when serious irregularities were discovered in the supply of pulses at the Churaibari food godown in the Dharmanagar subdivision. During unloading from a truck that arrived from Jirania, a laborer noticed a suspicious shortage in dal bags. Upon further investigation, it was found that each 30 kg bag actually contained only 26 to 27 kg of dal, indicating a significant discrepancy.
Out of 834 dal sacks, 154 were found to be underweight, resulting in a shortage of 534 kg of dal. This discovery has caused widespread shock and concern among the public. The incident occurred when a truck carrying pulses from Mahabir Dal Mills Pvt. Ltd., based in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, arrived at the godown.
Bibhrato Deb, the head labor supervisor at the godown, confirmed that the anomaly was first noticed by a laborer named Makram Ali. The sacks with double stitching were found to have less dal compared to those with single stitching, suggesting a systematic manipulation technique was in place.
Achintya Pal, the godown in-charge, stated that the consignment was meant for 33 ration shops in Kadamtala block and the ICDS scheme, totaling 25.20 metric tons of dal. He emphasized that the actual weight received was recorded in the challan, and any malpractice should be investigated by the authorities.
Initial reports indicate that the truck was loaded at Jirania railway station the previous evening and arrived at Churaibari the next day. There are strong suspicions that the dal may have been siphoned off at Jirania itself, leading to allegations of a long-running racket involving a syndicate within the Jirania and state food department headquarters.
As pressure mounts from various sectors, demands for a high-level investigation are growing to uncover and punish those responsible for this organized theft of public food supplies. The scandal has exposed the need for greater transparency and accountability within the Public Distribution System to prevent such corrupt practices in the future.
