PDS shops to double up as service centres

Ranchi: The department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs has identified over 10,000 public distribution system (PDS) shops across the state for doubling them as common service centres (CSC).
In response to a question in the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha recently, the department said the shops would provide an array of services to the rural population, who have to travel to block headquarters and towns to get their job done. The CSCs will also provide the PDS dealers with an additional source of income, it said.
Notably, the department had earlier planned to double up nearly 25,000 PDS shops as CSCs across the 24 districts.
“The doubling up of PDS shops as a CSC was done on a pilot basis in a few districts and we got encouraging results. A PDS dealer in Chaibasa reported that his monthly income has touched Rs 50,000,” food and civil supplies minister Rameshwar Oraon said.
Out of the targeted 10,000 PDS shops, over 6,647 are being developed as CSCs at present, while the rest would be completed within a few months, he added.