PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Dehradun district administration has opened 17 fair price shops under the public distribution system (PDS) in urban areas of the district after several years. This has provided employment to several families and improved access to essential supplies for women, senior citizens and other beneficiaries, Dehradun district magistrate Savin Bansal said.
He stated that due to the shortage of shops earlier, people were forced to queue in harsh weather to collect ration from overcrowded outlets. The district administration took action following the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s directive to improve ease, transparency and access in the PDS.
Based on the increase in population, the resignation or death of existing fair price shopkeepers and the need to ease pressure on existing shops, the administration released a notification calling for applications via the Invest Uttarakhand portal. A selection committee reviewed the applications and 17 shop licenses were granted across various city areas, the DM said.
He informed that the newly allotted shops include locations in Clement Town (Lakkhibagh, Bharuwala Indrapuri, Bhandari Bagh), Dalanwala (Barighat Canal Road), Miyawala (Natthuwala), Premnagar (Shanti Vihar, Vijay Park), Raipur (Nehrugram, Jain Plot Vani Vihar, Harbanswala, Maheshwari Vihar), Rishikesh (IDPL Colony), Sahaspur (Chandrabani Choyla) and Dehrakhas (Kargi, Deepnagar, Brahmpuri and Banjarawala). The allocation was completed through a defined process, with fair price shop licenses issued to selected individuals for these areas, he added.
