Officials in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts have refuted complaints of shortage in the number of items and their quality in Pongal gift hampers distributed to eligible ration cardholders.
At several places such as Thanjavur town, Budalur block and other areas in Thanjavur district as well as in Thiruthuraipoondi in Tiruvarur district, some of the family cardholders reportedly did not receive all items listed in the gift hamper. At some fair price shops (FPS) in Medical College Road area in Thanjavur, the family cardholders were reportedly asked to bring their own carry bags to collect the gift items due to shortage of cloth bags (manja pai)
When contacted, the FPS staff refused to entertain any queries with regard to distribution of Pongal gift hampers. At the same time, officials involved in the exercise maintained that the distribution was being carried out as planned and there was neither any shortage of items, nor were items of inferior quality included in the hampers.
Meanwhile, Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver on Saturday visited the FPS at Budalur and checked the quality of sugarcane kept for distribution.
