Civil Supplies Dept gear up to deal with ration dealers' strike

Taking a serious note on the strike call given by ration dealers, the Telangana Government has initiated measures to deal with the situation.

The State Government has decided to suspend the dealers who till now not paid DD’s and not distributing commodities. The Civil Supplies Department started the process of listing out the dealers who are participating in the strike and also initiated officials district to collect wise the data of the participants. As per the orders from Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, the Civil Supplies Department has declared Saturday (2nd of December) as the last date for the ration dealers for depositing DD’s for ration commodities, after that defaulters would be suspended.

Commissioner for Civil Supplies C.V. Anand issued orders to district Collectors and Joint Collectors to appoint new dealers to fill up the vacant positions. Also collect the data of the members participating in the strike and the details of the dealers who have deposited DD’s but are not distributing commodities to common people. He also suggested officials to take alternative measures in the major areas where strike is in practice and preparations to be made to distribute commodities to the people without any disturbances.

Service charge on bills illegal: C.V.Anand

Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand on Saturday convened a meeting with representatives of hotels association where he warned them that imposition of service charge on bills handed out to customers at hotels and restaurants was illegal.

Payment of service charge by customers was voluntary because it was supposed to be a tip for the service that they received from hotels and restaurants. But, a number of complaints were received in the National Consumer Helpline that hotels and restaurants included ‘service charge’ as a separate head in the bill to collect 5 to 20% of value of food items consumed in lieu of tips, a release said.

Therefore, Mr. Anand told the representatives, the bills may clearly mention service charge as voluntary. The space against the head ‘service charge’ in the bill may be left blank for the customers to fill and pay the amount that they quoted.

The legal metrology department would conduct raids on hotels and restaurants from Monday to check if the amount was continued to be collected despite Saturday’s firm instructions. Mr. Anand warned the representatives that tips or gratuity paid by customers towards hospitality received by them was a separate transaction between them and hotel staff at the discretion of customers.

Raids against GST frauds to be intensified

Legal Metrology Department has intensified the raids against GST fraud cases with the Commissioner for Civil Supplies and Legal Metrology Controller C.V. Anand ordering officials to make special and detailed checks on all the complaints for another week.

So far, 1,062 cases have been booked and Rs.10.62 lakhs penalty has been imposed while few more cases were in trail stage, Anand said in a press release issued here on Sunday. Most cases registered for charging GST on MRP were in Hyderabad and these include against Hyderabad Central Mall, PVR Cinemas, KFC, Mc Donald, Prasads Imax, Subway Food Court, Sujana Mall in Kukatpally, Blue Fox Restaurant, Shanbagh, Golconda Hotel and others, he said.

Stating that the department would continue to intensify action on the GST frauds, Anand said penalty from Rs.2,000 to Rs.25,000 would be levied against those caught for the first time for charging more than MRP with the penalty getting doubled for those caught the second time.

Complaints of GST frauds were coming not only about small traders but even big shopping malls and multiplexes. Charging GST on MRP, non GST items and selling on higher prices in the GST were reported in these raids. In last six days Legal Metrology Department conducted more than 5000 raids and made special and detailed checks in malls, multiplexes, star hotels, restaurants, bars, sweet houses and other business points, the press release added.

Civil supplies to carry out GST drive

Civil supplies department will take up special drive from Thursday across the state to check shops and commercial establishments collecting higher GST and higher price than MRP. Special teams comprising of officials and staff from legal metrology department have been formed for the purpose.

It will book cases and impose penalty of Rs 2,000 to Rs 25,000 on shops found to be violating the norms during the raids.

The department received large scale complaints on shops fleecing consumers in the name of GST and collecting GST for items which are listed in zero tax slab in GST regime.

Civil supplies commissioner C.V. Anand on Wednesday held a meeting with legal metrology officials to finalise special drive against shops and commercial establishments violating GST and MRP norms.

Mr Anand directed officials to initiate stringent action against the violators.He said the department has been recieving lot of complaints on MRP violations from consumers and asked officials to act fast on such complaints.

Mr Anand asked consumers to lodge GST, MRP related complaints on 73307744444 (WhatsApp number  of civil supplies department), 

Whatsapp helpline 7330774444 launched to handle the grievances of the public and other stakeholders

The Telangana Civil Supplies department has established a ‘WhatsApp Centre’ at its headquarters here, to handle the grievances of the public and other stakeholders such as farmers, millers, warehouse owners, transporters and fair price shop dealers.

Those intending to lodge a complaint may send it through the ‘WhatsApp’ application to the number ‘7330774444’, along with images, audio or video clippings. Complaints may be about corrupt practices of officials, FP shops closed during regular hours, shortage of ration, diversion of commodities, injustice to farmers or regarding e-PoS machines at the FP shops.

The complaint will be received by the control room at the headquarters, and forwarded to the official concerned. Response about the action taken will be immediately and then forwarded to the complainant through ‘WhatsApp’.

The ‘WhatsApp Control Room’ was launched by the Secretary, Information Technology here on Friday, along with the project of installation of CCTV cameras in 171 Mandal Level Stockist Points (MLSPs).

The control room will be monitored by three members 24X7.

A total of 1715 high definition cameras will be fixed at the MLSPs, after the successful results of installing them in nine warehouses in Greater Hyderabad.

The video wall facility where the movement of trucks can be observed live, will be extended to the Joint Collectors’ offices in the State soon, Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand said.

The department had launched the command control centre in order to prevent diversion of PDS rice in two stages, between the buffer godowns and MLSPs and from MLSPs to the fair price shops, respectively.

Whenever the vehicles go off from the authorised route, online alerts would be generated and the erring persons could be brought to book.

How One Honest & Efficient Officer Can Turn Around a Government Organisation (Source: harimohanparuvu.blogspot.com)

This is the story of how one person changed the fortunes of an inefficient and corrupt government department - The Civil Supplies Corporation. Given charge of being Commissioner Civil Supplies Department of Telangana, after  a fine performance as Commissioner Cyberabad, C.V. Anand, IPS, got a post normally given to IAS officers. But the government was keen and felt he was the right person to do the job. After a short span of an year, he won the Award for Excellence from the government having brought in several measures that saved .Rs. 1206 directly and several more indirectly

When he took over the CSC, the fact sheet read like this - Large outstanding of material (paddy - rice), Outstanding dues (loans and moneys owed to the corporation), loss due to leakages (transport, procurement, gunny bags), millers domination, , low employee morale, corruption (FPS shops), financial mismanagement, the cash credit was stopped by the bank, subsidy from Central Government was stopped due to excess of 25% levy (unexplained), a 3288 crore deficit due to non-sanction from the state government (due to non-persuasion by the department). The corporations P&L looked abysmal. The end consumer and the farmer suffered (how, any details). Tax payers money was going down the drain and in many cases was being used by unscrupulous elements in collusion with officials. In short, the Rs. 10000 crore corporation was a royal mess.

To handle such inefficiency and corruption at such a large scale the officer needed the support of the government and he got it amply.

1. Set the agenda and send a clear message

C.V. Anand had to send a clear message that the department meant business. He needed to get the right team on the bus (Good to Great- Jim Collins) which he did and got the wrong people off the bus and sent them to the field. He led from the front, set clear goals, roles, evolved Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs),  recognised and rewarded those who did a good job and kept the team motivated. Promotions were given, recruitments done, transfers were made transparent, long standing deputations cancelled, political interference reduced in transfers The message was clear - perform or perish and he would spare no one.

His team now in place, he needed to attack the mischief makers. Other stakeholders included Rice Millers, Kerosene Dealers, Fair Price Shop Dealers, Transporters other than the Farmers and the End Consumers.

2. Changing the currency

To understand the way the Corporation works better, he changed the basic unit from MTs to Rupees. The message - the Corporation had to be run like a company. What was previously discussed in MTs now became Rupees and that helped bring focus to the medium of exchange and even the way performance could be measured..A column "in Rs. Crore' was added to every single report to see the financial implication of every decision and action.

3. Dealing with the Rice Millers

He sent a clear message to the Millers (o/s of 651 cr) - who get advances worth crores of rupees from the department to process the paddy and deliver rice within two months. The average outstanding which should not exceed two months was in many cases running into years - some were taking the paddy and directly exporting them as their own and paying the corporation as and when they wished. This non-supervision and non-recovery of rice due from millers on time caused a huge loss - when he took charge it was 1.85 lakh MTs outstanding translating to Rs. 482 crore which was not being recovered.

Some millers were returning substandard rice to the government having substituted the original paddy with low quality rice.

Gunny Sacks

Gunny sacks that were given to millers with paddy were not being returned ((175 cr). It was estimated that 5 crore gunny bags were not returned which were worth about Rs. 66 crores. Transport of bags by road instead of rail bought down the cost by 6 crore.  Prices were not negotiated with millers (62 cr).

All millers were asked to pay all dues within two months and any one who defaulted was blacklisted. Four repeat offenders were arrested under preventive detention. Gunny bags sent to millers were recovered which earlier were recovered. Clear standard operating procedures were given to be followed to stop leakage and loss. This included measures like checking the electricity meter for average consumption, giving color coded bags for packaging etc. Also allotment of paddy etc was done on the basis of capacity and not on some whims and fancies.

4. Use of Technology to Monitor and Enforce

The department and the millers in place, it was time to monitor intelligence to help enforcement through use of technology. The department got GPS systems installed on the 1383 trucks with a geo fencing feature where any deviation in route (total route length 18000 kms) is alerted by sms to the top officials - Commissioner, Collector and CSO. CCTVs were put in place at mandal level centres, godowns to ensure no pilferage is done. To watch all this in real time, a command and control room with an 18 and 8 feet screen was set up which monitors transportation, CCTVs live. A team watched the operations 24/7. Thus technology was used to increase surveillance, obtain first hand and real time information on where the material was and in what shape. An Online Payment Management System (OPMS) was used to pay Rs. 8100 crores to 11 lakh farmers at one go.

5. Use of Technology to Bind Team and Motivate and Appreciate

To enforce the agenda strictly, the entire team of Officers in districts were bought together on real time through 15 Whatsapp groups. Officials used this app to report status on ground. All good work done by the CSOs was recognised and appreciated by name instantly by the Commissioner (Ken Blanchard - One Minute Manager, Whale Done). Awards were given and certificates and promotions recommended (Ken Blanchard - Gung Ho). This simple but little-used technique increased the morale of the officers on the field. Needless to say, it is a practice that consumes much time and speaks of how devoted the officer was and how he invested time in the people and backed them fully. The Millers were taken into confidence and were asked ways to cut down leakage and pilferage.

6. Outsourced Teams to Help in IT, Enforcement, Technology, Finance

To bolster the efforts of his team, an IT team, an accounts team, an enforcement team and a technology team (quality) on an outsourced basis. The outsourced teams, some comprising of retired officers and others who were qualified,  were given clear instructions to conduct raids, check and report malpractices and give no leeway for offenders. Enforcement officers in outsourced teams were handpicked after personal interviews.

7. Financial Management and New Online Payment System

The department had not claimed dues, had not recovered material and on top of it, had paid an interest of Rs. 2100 crores. No proper audit had been done since 2011. This was addressed by the finance team. The accounts were audited after many years. Outstanding loans of Rs. 3500 crore were paid out of an amount of Rs. 6000 crores. An online payment system was developed which was used to deposit a sum of Rs. 8100 crores directly into the bank accounts of 11 lakh farmers.

8. FPS Shops and EPoS Machines

EPoS machines were installed in 1400 FPS shops on a pilot basis which reduced loss by 140 crore. Now machines are being installed in 7000 FPS shops. This will reduce any mischief at the FSP shops. Also, FPS shops never showed any closing balance. They have now been asked to show a closing balance of 15%. Quality of rice is being ensured and to prevent any mischief, the colour of the sacks containing rice for hostels and schools had been changed.

9. Launch of T Ration App

On September 8, 2017 the Department launched the T Ration app which is a boon for the beneficiaries of the ration cards or the PDS system. One can download the app on their smart phone and can access details of ration shops, stocks, live activity, quotas, commodities availability, status of applications, loading and unloading details. Consumers can approach any ration shop. All shops were geo-tagged and CCTVs installed in godowns. It cannot get more transparent than that. The T Ration App also has 13 apps for the officers to access and discharge their duties from anywhere - stock, live sales, receipt, seeding status etc can be accessed at the touch of a button. What was a nebulous business earlier has now become a transparent process which benefits both the corporation, the consumers and the dealers.

Savings and Recoveries After the Above Measures

The savings and recoveries in just one year of operations are estimated as follows - recovery of Custom Milled Rice dues (Rs. 715 cr), Gunny bag dues (Rs. 175 cr), Savings through negotiation with millers (Rs. 62 cr), Savings through transportation (Rs. 71 crore), Recovery of long pending dues from GoI Rs. 1946 cr), EPOS savings (Rs.260 cr), Savings through other measures (Rs. 270 cr). Of a total savings/recoveries estimated of Rs. 4208 cr, the department has in one yer saved Rs. 1270 cr. The balance Rs. 2938 crore is likely to be recovered/saved soon.

The direct beneficiaries are clearly the end consumers - people who buy in FPS shops, the hostel and school meals and the farmers from whom the paddy was being procured. They were getting delayed, sub-standard material and artificial shortfalls were created which benefited the millers, transporters, officials, godowns, FPS owners who made merry at the tax payers expense. Now with the system in place and losses brought down by 1200 crores in one year, the Civil Supplies Department is on the way to a full recovery.

Systems In Place, Hard Work Done - Benefits of a Level 5 Leader

The biggest takeaway from this massive exercise is a great lesson in leadership and how it can cause such a huge impact in one year. To convert an complex Corporation like the CSC into a transparent one through use of technology and other monitoring measures is no joke. In fact it is exactly what Jim Collins talks about in his book 'Good to Great' (a book I recommended and he immediately ordered it). The first prerequisite to transform a corporation from good to great is ) Level 5 leadership 2) getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off 3) confronting brutal facts while being clear of the final vision 4) a culture of discipline 5) clarity of the hedgehog concept and 6)technology accelerators. Almost all in place or in process and it is only one year into operation but the results are more than 10x. Fantastic.

It is no secret that the reforms will work for a while to come. The hard work has been done and needs to be sustained. Many of the reforms in IT, Enforcement, Finance and Technology can be taken forward (or can be withdrawn) based on the vision or the whims and fancies of the next official.

But what is heartening is to know that so much can be done with one person who wants to do good and who is driven by a purpose. CV's belief has always been this - "Government is a Trust, and the officers of the government are trustees. And both the trust and trustees are created for the benefit of the people.' CV clearly is a Level 5 leader - the kind who can transform organisations from Good to Great.

How one Level 5 leader can change the efficiency of an organisation, that too a government organisation, is a case study for all to look at - private sector or government. In fact two leaders of large private corporations that I met recently and shared this story with asked if they could meet him and find out how he did it - I guess he should make a presentation on how he did it and release it as a case to study and follow.

His man management techniques are brilliant - lead from the front, use the window and mirror approach i.e. give credit to team and take all blame (Jim Collins), using appreciation and positive strokes instantly (Ken Blanchard), driven by purpose i.e. the cause (Simon Sinek) are all in place. If Google's 'way to build a perfect team' is considered - the impact they made, the meaning they have in the employees life, the structure (goal and role clarity), dependability and psychological safety are areas that need to be examined. An atmosphere of fairness and justice has been established and the team trusts him now as someone who will watch their back. His reputation precedes him and for him that bodes well.

'We can do wonders if we do an honest job,' he says. The evidence is clear as day light. Then we wonder - what are all the others doing. CV also gives full credit for the backing he got from the government and the CM in implementing the changes and measures that he did. If the Government wants to, it certainly can, because there are enough officers like CV who can do a wonderful job. CV has always made a difference to whatever job he has been entrusted - mounted police at the Tank Bund, drunken driving and traffic enforcement, Cyberabad and the snake gang and now this. His room is full of awards and pictures with the President Dr. Abdul Kalam and others. Well done CV and hoping you will be entrusted with more such challenging assignments that will help society.  And I hope you will inspire more and more people in all walks of life to make a difference as you did and continue to do.

T-Ration mobile app launched

It offers 7 govt.- citizen, and 13 govt. - govt. services The Civil Supplies Department of Telangana has launched a mobile app, T-Ration, for providing better services to the families having household supply or ration (food security) cards for drawing various commodities supplied by the government at subsidised prices.
Minister for Finance and Civil Supplies launched the android-based app developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) here on Friday.
Commissioner of Civil Supplies C.V. Anand stated that a Telugu version of the app was also being developed by the department with the help of NIC and it would be made available to users soon.
Explaining the features of the mobile app, the Commissioner stated that it would offer 7 G2C (Government to Citizen) and 13 G2G (Government to Government) services.
Apart from allocation of commodities to a particular ration card, ration card search, ration shop location, allocation of commodities to a ration shop, current stock at ration shop and ration card transactions, it would also provide information on the department's services linked to MeeSeva services.
Ration shop number, dealer’s name, address, mobile phone number, stock position of commodities and whether a particular shop is open or closed could also be know with the help of the app, Mr. Anand said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister requested people to surrender ration cards if they have taken them for purposes like Aarogyasri health cards, as address proof, or for college fee reimbursement scheme.

Anand in a Conversation

CV Anand talks about his love for sport, 26 years of service

Born in Ranga Reddy district, it was his mother’s idea to shift the whole family to Hyderabad for better education

While catching up with CV Anand, a gentleman who greets with a warm smile and claims to be a 150 per cent Hyderabadi, we got to know more about his athlete- turned-IPS officer life.

Born in Ranga Reddy district, it was his mother’s idea to shift the whole family to Hyderabad for better education. His family then lived near Birla Mandir in Adarsh Nagar colony. CV Anand was undoubtedly a bright student and Mathematics was his favourite subject. While studying in The Hyderabad Public School, he simultaneously progressed in studies and even his sports career took a leap.

He played for U-19 south zone, U-22 Hyderabad and in his standard XII, he was part of U-19 Indian cricket team that toured England. CV Anand says, “Since childhood I was always interested in sports and played different sports from cricket and basketball to athletics.”

It was only later that it got narrowed down to cricket. “Being good in two things isn’t easy — especially to juggle, and since my cricket career, which had a lot of uncertainty, wasn’t doing so well, I decided to do my Masters and apply for the civil exams,” he says. He cracked the exam in the first attempt and since then he has been busy trying his bit to make the country a better place. What makes him an even more exceptional personality is his zeal to never give up and to be always in action.

“I believe in leading from the front and so, I avoid leading the team from behind or giving out orders while sitting in an AC room,” he says. His work has brought him many prestigious awards like the President’s Police Medal and Telangana Excellence Award.

Surprisingly, CV Anand owes a part of his achievements to the messaging app, WhatsApp. “It’s the app of the century! WhatsApp groups have helped the team in breaking walls between departments and makes co-ordination easier and faster.”

Personal life

CV Anand is married to Lalitha, a classical singer and a professor at ISB, whom he met during their college days and is blessed with two sons. One of the sons, Milind is a left-handed batsman who has made it to India U-19 and plays for Hyderabad cricket team. “I have always been proud of my children and they have been a great support.” As a family they all share a great bond and make it a point to spend time often over movies. “We make a great team and since we are all movie buffs, we go for movies and often go for outings.”

Principles he lives by

Time management is one of the keys to success for CV Anand. “Time is precious and if one can manage their time well, they will go a long way,” he says. “Sports taught me to be disciplined, to stay focused, ethical and to be a team player. These qualities keep me grounded,” he adds.

The 49-year-old still plays his favourite game, cricket, and Sunday is dedicated only for cricket. He also says, “Sport is a way of meditation for me and I play whenever I want to destress.” And despite his busy schedule, he has somehow learned how to strike a balance between his work, family and sports. He has been playing tennis regularly which is a new addition, and is looking forward to try his hands on golf soon.

Traders warned against illegal hike in sugar prices

Commissioner for Civil Supplies C.V. Anand warned sugar traders against hiking the price by creating scarcity by stock holding of sugar illegally and practicing of speculative activities.

“Licensed Dealer / Trader should not sell sugar more than the price decided by Central government or state government. Raids should be conducted to check if any trader is doing business without license. A person engaged in the business of purchase sale and storage for sale of sugar n quantities of five quintals is considered as sugar dealer.

Wholesale should get license from concerned district Civil Supplies officer, Tahasildar, if he fail to have license action will be taken under Civil Supplies Act,” Anand said on Wednesday.

The Government of India extended the notification which imposed stock holding and turnover limits on dealers of sugar till 28th October, 2017. It also authorized the state governments and union territory administrations to enforce this order.

The Civil Supplies Commissioner conducted a meeting with wholesale sugar dealers’ association representatives to discuss the regulations issued by Central government on sugar prices.

Tight vigil on PDS rice smugglers

444 raids conducted, 97 cases registered, says Civil Supplies Commissioner

The Civil Supplies Department has intensified its vigil against those indulging in illegal transportation of rice meant for distribution through public distribution system.

The enforcement and task force personnel, on the instructions of Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand conducted 444 raids in the past six months and 97 cases were registered under Section 6A and 26 criminal cases had been registered so far.

-> PD Act

Of these, two cases were registered under the provisions of the Preventive Detention Act.According to an official release, cases were registered under PD Act against Chandrasekhar of Deverakonda mandal of Nalgonda district for illegal transportation of ration rice. The accused was known for illegal transportation of rice and had been booked more than once previously. But he was still continuing the fraudulent business.

Mr. Anand asserted that the searches on those indulging in illegal transportation of rice would continue. “Even after taking so many steps to curb illegal transportation of the PDS rice, it is still continuing in some places,” he said.

-> Close watch

Traders were collecting PDS rice from dealers, cardholders and other businessmen and transporting it to other States.

The enforcement and task force personnel were keeping a close watch on these fraudsters tracking their movements and booking cases under appropriate sections.

He asserted that hunt was still on to track these traders and transporters and more fraudsters would be taken into custody in the coming days.

The Civil Supplies Department would soon arrest the kingpin behind the racket, he said adding action was initiated against three rice traders who were booked under the PD Act. “Tight vigil by these teams has saved ₹25 crore to the Government,” he said.

Anand in a conversation

Anand attributes award to team work

Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand, who received State Excellence Award from Chief Minister on Independence Day attributed it to the collective effort of all employees in the department. Speaking to the employees of Civil Supplies and Legal Metrology and rice millers association representatives who congratulated him on winning the award here on Wednesday, Mr. Anand said that anything was possible to achieve if one worked with honesty and commitment.

He said that the award had only increased the responsibility of the department. The Department gained good reputation and recognition from the Government as the employees worked honestly. Transparency, accountability, getting immediate results using technology and reforms and austerity and efforts of employees got the appreciation.

Exemplary Performance

Mr.C.V.Anand.,IPS, Commissioner of Civil Supplies, receiving Telangana state excellence Award from the Telagana Chief Minister

C.V.Anand gets top police medal, Telangana Excellence Award

Mr C.V. Anand, the commissioner of the civil supplies department, received two pieces of good news on Monday.He was selected by the Centre as a recipient of the coveted President's Police Medal for distinguished service, and by the state government as a recipient of the TS Excellence Award for improving the efficiency of the public distribution system.

FP shop dealers drop strike plan

The fair price shop dealers have decided to withdraw their proposed indefinite strike from Tuesday.

According to an official press release, a delegation of dealers headed by Telangana Fair Price Shop Dealers Welfare Association president B. Ramesh announced a decision in this regard after meeting Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand here on Monday. The dealers urged the Civil Supplies Commissioner to come to their rescue explaining him about the hardships they were facing with the nominal commissions being paid.

They said the dealers had decided to withdraw the strike pinning hopes on positive action from Mr. Anand and Civil Supplies Minister Eatala Rajender soon. Expressing confidence that the government would announce measures for their welfare on the lines of RTC, anganwadi workers and home guards, they sought more time for payment of deposits as the e-Seva servers were down due to technical problems.

Mr. Anand requested the members of Telangana Civil Supplies Hamali Union to call off their strike assuring that the government would positively consider their problems. The hamali union had launched an indefinite strike since July 25 and the civil supplies commissioner held discussions with the representatives of the union.

He said the government would positively consider the demand for extension of ESI facility to hamalis and minimum wages to sweepers even as the union representatives asked the official to consider payment of old age pension to hamalis after crossing an age limit.

TS Govt serious on resolving problems of ration dealers: CV Anand

Commissioner for Civil Supplies C.V. Anand on Wednesday said that the Telangana Government was serious on resolving the problems being faced by the ration dealers in the State. He assured that he would take the problems to the notice of government and find solutions.

In view of strike call from August 1st given by some unions, for last two days (Tuesday, and Wednesday), Anand held meetings with union leaders at Civil Supplies Bhavan. He conducted meeting with union members

Also he had a brief meeting with DCSO’s on alternate arrangements if the dealers go for strike call. He said government is in positive approach to solve ration dealers problems, in this situation if they still call for, the dealers alone will lose. So, DCSO’s should make district level and mandal level meetings with dealers and clarify this matter to them.

The Commissioner said that government is taking steps to increase commission and also to improve revenue earning methods of the ration dealers. He requested to dealers not to lose this good opportunity in this pleasant situation. Some decisions are already been taken by the government. If they still take hasty decision to go for strike, then alternative methods will be taken to ensure that people are not suffered, he said.

“Steps are taken to increase income of dealers by starting refinement of ration shops. In this part, cashless transactions are started by introducing ePos machines in all the ration shops. Till now in seven districts this system is completed. In one or two months time all over the state it will be fully implemented. In future ration shops will be turned to mini banks. The ration dealers’ earnings will increase. By introducing ePos machines all the transactions will be linked with Aadhaar cards. Turning ration shops to mini super markets is also under probation. Increase in dealers’ commission, honour wage issues will be taken to the notice of government. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will take decision on this. Till then be patient and support government,” the Commissioner said.

Anand said that the government has identified that there was variation of weight which is coming from the godown. Steps will be taken to overcome it. Officials are designated to prepare proposal to setup weighing bridges state wide at all the 171 godowns. In one or two days clear orders will be issued for allowing 1.5 % variations on whole stock.

On this occasion Ration Dealers’ Welfare Association representatives told the Commissioner that they should be given honorary wage of Rs. 30,000, loans without interest to pay Demand Drafts, Insurance and Health Card facility.

FCI asked to provide adequate storage space

After straightening the recalcitrant millers into surrendering the custom milled rice (CMR) due from them, the Civil Supplies department is facing an unexpected problem, as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is not providing sufficient storage space.

Citing this as the reason, the millers have sought extension of deadline up to September 30, for surrender of the CMR, instead of the earlier August 31.

Commissioner, Civil Supplies, C.V.Anand held a joint meeting with FCI representatives and rice millers on Wednesday, and requested the former to assign required storage space to the millers. Complaints pertaining to storage issues are coming mainly from Peddapalli, Jagityal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, and Nalgonda districts, he said, and brought it to their notice that the department will face losses if CMR submission is delayed.

This Rabi, the department has purchased 37.15 lakh Metric Tonnes of paddy from farmers and handed over to the rice millers for milling. For this, millers should surrender 26 lakh MTs of rice to the government by August 31. Till now 8.76 lakh MTs boiled and 44,000 MTs raw rice is surrendered to FCI, a note from the department said.

Rice millers expressed concern as the rice is stocked in lorry for days laying outside FCI godowns and getting wet due to rains.

Goa minister lauds IT usage in Telangana civil supplies dept

Goa Information Technology Minister  has lauded the use of infotech in the civil supplies department of the Telangana government which has helped in curbing illegal transport of essential commodities distributed under public distribution system (PDS).

 Goa Information Technology Minister and Goa IT Secretary today visited the Command Control Centre in Civil Supplies Bhavan here.

According to an official release, Telangana Commissioner of Civil Supplies C V Anand explained the functioning of the centre to them.

During the meeting, the minister appreciated the use of IT in the civil supplies department in curbing illegal transport of essential commodities, the release said.

"Transport of ration rice to the black market has stopped after the Command Control Centre became operational. Removing irregularities in public distribution system and providing essential commodities to the eligible beneficiaries by using technology is very much appreciable," minister said.

Anand said application of technology helps in bringing transparency and accountability in the system, thereby curbing corruption.

An IT wing has been set up in the civil supplies department and about 1,700 closed circuit cameras are being installed in 171 godowns statewide. Also, similar command control centres are being set up in district joint collector offices, the commissioner added.

Monitoring of transportation of PDS rice from the Command Control Centre here has led to a drop in its diversion to the black market, Anand told the visiting minister.

Move to encourage e-transactions in ration shops

Reforms were being taken up in ration shops to increase the income of dealers and e-POS machines introduced across all shops to encourage cashless transactions, said Civil Supplies department Commissioner, C V Anand here on Friday.

Speaking to ration shop dealers who had threatened to go on strike from August if their demands were not, Anand said the installation of e-POS devices would be completed and ration dealers will get more income as all the fair price shops will be transformed into mini banks.

Asking them to desist from going on strike he said, “if you decide to call for strike, the Corporation will opt for alternative steps accordingly”.

“We have 2.75 crore Aadhaar card details and the department is planning to turn ration shops into mini-super markets,” he said, adding that genuine dealers can make profit through these reforms.

“Once we introduce e-POS in all the districts, Chief Minister will decide on increase of commission to the dealers. Till then you should be patient,” Anand said.

Later, the dealers requested Anand to give a minimum salary of Rs 30,000 and sought measures to remove weight loss in rice bags as they were losing two to three kgs in every bag coming to them.

Anywhere ration receives good response in city

With use of ePOS, Aadhaar beneficiary can draw rations from any FP shop

Ration portability introduced by the Civil Supplies Department in Greater Hyderabad has received good response from the public with over 1.35 lakh transactions since its launch on June 1.

On an average, over 20% of the total transactions are through ration portability, according to the department.

Ration portability option, which enables the consumer to obtain monthly ration from any fair price shop (FPS) across Greater Hyderabad, irrespective of the place of residence, was introduced in all the 1,545 shops in the city on an experimental basis from 1st June.

Use of biometrics

The ration portability was made possible through the introduction of ePOS system in all the FP shops, and use of biometrics and Aadhaar for establishment of the beneficiary’s identity.

Charminar circle with 17,682 has the largest number of transactions through the portability option, followed by Khairatabad at 14,505. The fair price shops in Charminar and Malakpet circles have recorded 25% of their total transactions through portability.

Beneficiaries who have shifted residence, and those who had earlier been put to inconvenience due to the distances they had to travel to reach the designated FPS are the ones to benefit the most from the portability option.

Vacant dealerships

Owing to cases, suspensions, death of dealers, leaves and resignations, a total of 265 shops are vacant in the Greater Hyderabad region.

Transferring the list of beneficiaries of FP shops that have shut down to the dealers in the adjoining areas have created problems for the beneficiaries, who had to wait in long queues. Portability option has addressed this problem too, say Civil Supplies officials.

Weeding out

Ration portability was introduced to checkmate the unscrupulous FPS dealers, said Commissioner Civil Supplies C.V.Anand.

“Through this measure we have aimed to weed out the benami dealers, who run the shop through others, and are not interested in providing service to the consumers. Portability option requires that all the ration shops in the State work at the same time, so only dealers who need the shop for survival will remain in business,” said Mr.Anand.

It has been made mandatory for the dealers to keep the shop open from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

Additional stock

To enable the dealers to supply efficiently, the department is maintaining 10 to 15 % additional stocks with each shop.

Through online monitoring, the stocks will be replenished as and when required, Mr.Anand explained.

Replication  soon

The measure will be replicated throughout the state, once the ePOS system is introduced and streamlined in all districts, he said.

From July 1, the department is mulling over introducing the system in 2000 more FP shops in Mahabubnagar, Medchal, Ranga Reddy and Vikarabad districts.

All the 17,200 fair price shops across the State are likely to be covered by August, and one or two months later, the portability option will be launched for the whole State, he added.

₹5,529 cr. paid online to 7 lakh farmers

The Civil Supplies Corporation has made online payments to the tune of ₹5,529 crore so far to farmers against procurement of paddy produced by them in the recently-concluded rabi season. The amount has been credited into the account of about 7 lakh farmers from whom the produce was procured.

According to Commissioner of Civil Supplies C.V. Anand, the Civil Supplies Corporation has already procured 36.63 lakh tonnes of paddy through 3,055 procurement centres as against the estimated production over 39 lakh tonnes in the rabi season.

“The government has allotted necessary funds for paddy procurement. Initially, the government has given surety for ₹2,000 crore and for another ₹1,000 crore recently,” he explained. For the first time, farmers were paid through online with the help of Online Procurement Management System (OPMS) software to avoid the involvement of middlemen, Mr. Anand stated. In the last kharif, the corporation had procured 16.52 lakh tonnes of paddy from 3,92,787 farmers through 2,178 purchase centres and ₹2,478 crore was paid to them online. In the last rabi (2015-16) only 8.27 lakh tonnes of paddy was procured from 1,72,450 farmers through 1,282 purchase centres.

Meanwhile, the State Government has issued orders allowing the Civil Supplies Corporation to avail an additional cash credit limit of ₹1,000 crore from any public sector bank to make payments to farmers and that it would stand guarantee for such loan.

Don’t believe in plastic rice rumours: Anand

Commissioner of Civil Supplies C.V. Anand on Wednesday advised citizens not to believe in rumours on plastic rice as tests conducted on samples collected from the complainant in the Corporation laboratory had shown it was not ‘plastic rice’.

Rice samples have been sent to State Food Laboratory for further chemical tests to totally rule it out and in the meantime, enforcement and vigilance officials were put on high alert. Corporation officials have been given guidelines through video on how to recognise plastic rice and notice if it is mixed anywhere and carry out checks when there are doubts.

Rice millers too have been cautioned in this matter. Tests in Civil Supplies laboratory were conducted in the presence of quality control analyzer, general manager and assistant manager (technical)

Now, you can buy ration from any Fair Price Shop

Ration card holders in Greater Hyderabad can take their quota of commodities from any of the fair price shops in the city from Thursday onwards.

Civil supplies commissioner C V Anand said technology has been upgraded in the Fair Price(FP) shops in Greater Hyderabad to provide portability to the card-holders. Earlier, cardholders could buy their quota of ration only from the allotted fair price shop.

“Ration portability is being introduced from Thursday in the FP shops in the Greater Hyderabad limits and would be extended to other parts of the state in a phased manner. This will create competition among ration dealers and, in turn, card-holders will get better services. Ration portability is linked with Aadhaar card of the beneficiary,” civil supplies commissioner C V Anand said.

Ration portability is being introduced in 1545 ration shops across Greater Hyderabad on an experimental basis in the state capital. Of these, due to suspensions, death of dealers, leaves and resignation of dealers, as many as 265 shops are vacant.

Transferring these shops to other dealers in the adjoining areas posed problems to the card-holders due to long queues. Now, portability will help overcome these obstacles. To ensure success of portability, 10 to 15 percent of more stocks is being provided to the ration dealers. The ration card-holders need not change their house numbers or ration shops.

Anand said they are ensuring that along with ration portability, the working timings of all ration shops are rationalised. As of now, it is compulsory for dealers to keep their shops open from 8 am to 12 noon and from 4 pm to 8 pm. All the ration shops should display the photos of the dealer and the two nominees for the benefit of the customer.

Anand inspects paddy purchase centers in four districts

Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand today made a surprise visit to check Rabi season paddy purchase centers in four districts — Yadadri, Janagaon, Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural. He enquired about the conditions and problems in the paddy purchase centers with concerned district officials and farmers. 

He said that strict action would be taken against officials concerned, if any irregularity was found in gunny bags used for carrying paddy and other supplies.

“Gunny bags are carried to agriculture fields and other places, and several complaints have come to my notice mainly in Paddy Purchase Centers under Primary Agriculture Cooperation Societies (PACS) in Warangal and Jangaon areas,” he said.

Anand, who extensively toured four districts- Bhupalpally, Peddapalli, Karimnagar, and Jagtial, on Friday and held review meetings with Collectors, Joint Collectors, FCI, Civil Supplies Department, and marketing officials.

He warned the officials that if gunny bags were not utilised according to the norms, those found guilty would be blacklisted and criminal cases would booked against them.

The Commissioner visited parboiled rice mills in Dhanwad village in Kataram Mandal of Jayashanker Bhupalapally and Peddapalli districts, and inspected Paddy Purchase Centers in Durshed village of Karimnagar.

Paddy output beyond expectations in Telangana

Paddy purchase during Rabi season in Telangana is very high as production has exceeded the expectation like never before in the state, said Mr.C.V.Anand, Commissioner, Civil supplies, here today. 

More than 25.95 Lakh Metric Tons of paddy has been purchased till now , which is 18.65 LMTs more than the last year Rabi season, the Commissioner said in a release here. 

The department also procured record scale with Minimum Support price from the farmers, he said. 

According to fresh estimates, till now the production reached 42.44 LMT, exceeding the expectation of 37 LMT.In 2015-16, 7,28,829 metric tons of paddy was purchased from 1,51,950 farmers through 1262 purchase centers in Rabi season. 

Special focus by officials, especially by Joint Collectors was set on purchase of paddy and transport from ground level. Mr Anand said there is no shortage of gunny bags as 9.25 crore bags were available. 

As per the demand of about one crore bags are already in position at district godowns while another 30 lakh bags required will be given before the allotted bags are used. 

All the details of paddy procurement from farmers are entered in the website, and the bills are been cleared. 
Amount is transferred online to farmer bank accounts, he added

Telangana Chief Minister Appreciates C.V.Anand

At the inaugural address of the statewide police conference #Telangana #Chief Minister paid special compliments to Civil Supplies commissioner Mr.C.V.Anand.,IPS for saving Rs 850 crore for the Government. He praised Anand for his dedicated effort and said that if right people were in right positions, results will come in this way.

Enforcement teams in CS dept yielding good results

Specially constituted enforcement teams from the Civil Supplies Department conducted raids on fair price shops of 179 areas in various districts over three months and seized large quantities of rice and paddy meant for public distribution. Between February and April, the Enforcement wing had seized 3,507 quintals of PDS rice and 937 quintals of custom milled paddy, besides sugar,LPG cylinders and kerosene.

Civil Supplies Commissioner C.V. Anand said the department had arrested illegal transportation of superfine rice and rationed rice valued at Rs. 3.16 crore.Nine criminal cases were filed against the errant, apart from 56 other cases.

The teams were formed with retired police officers and officials from Revenue, Commercial Taxes and Civil Supplies departments.C.V.Anand stated that the enforcement task force teams set up with retired police officers to check malpractices and corruption in distribution of essential commodities under PDS were proving extremely helpful. 

He said frequent raids also showed growth in the performance of mandal-level stock points(godowns) and ration shops.Strict measures at the state border have resulted in decrease in the illegal supply of PDS rice to other states, he said.

The department appointed an enforcement wing with five teams of 20 members each.Civil Supplies and Legal Metrology depts., conducted raids on the petrol/diesel filling stations across the State, only two cases were registered for short filling.

Special drive to check benami ration dealers

After introducing reforms in almost all aspects of functioning, right from rice millers to milling units, transportation, storage and the like, the Civil Supplies Department has embarked on reforming the Fair Price (FP) shops. The Civil Supplies Department has been keeping surveillance on benami ration dealers to check black-marketing in public distribution scheme.

The department has started to identify benami dealers in Greater Hyderabad Zone as business has been conducted by unauthorised dealers for several years. Efforts were being taken to make cashless transactions in all FP shops, Civil Supplies Commissioner C V Anand said. The Commissioner held a meeting on Thursday in Civil Supplies Bhavan with DCSOs, ACSOs, Enforcement officials of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal districts in Greater Hyderabad Zone to review performance of ration shops. 

As per the directions of Chief Minister, measures were being taken to see that commodities reached the needy and eligible sections of the society through Fair Price shops, Anand said.Officials came to know that some FP shops were run by benamis and some are being run by unauthorised people, who are not related to license holders. It has come to the notice of the officials that some dealers have five to 20 shops in their hands. By introducing ePOS system in Greater Hyderabad, the department managed to save up to Rs 280 crore.

 Still, some benami dealers are continuing their business, the Commissioner said and instructed officials to use technology and conduct ground level raids to spot these benamis.Officials found 179 shops out of 1,545 in Greater Hyderabad are not performing either due to some 6A cases, death of dealer or on leave. Transferring dealership to another dealer is creating difficulties to the beneficiaries. Instructions will be passed to all the FP shops dealers to conduct business within the allotted time. 

The Commissioner passed orders to officials that steps should be taken to rationalise all cards in ration shops and notices should be issued to the dealers who are on long leave. Ration cards should be cancelled if beneficiary is not taking commodities for the past six month. The Commissioner issued action plan to eliminate benami Dealers.

All FP shops should be inspected by concerned area inspectors of all ACSO circle offices and the inspector should verify FP shop Form B license which was issued to the authorised dealer and to verify whether he/she is conducting the FP shop business. Later, the officials of DCSO office will cross check the authorisations issued to dealers, which were with the DCSO office. This work will be completed within ten days positively