As the United Nations (UN) declared this year as the International Year of the Millets, the Indian government has decided that supermarkets run by cooperative societies would sell millets at affordable prices.
Principal Secretary to the Government (Cooperation, Food, and Consumer Protection), J. Radhakrishnan, said that officials were instructed to take special care in selling the millets to people in these supermarkets, and the sales would commence in 10 days.
The government has planned to repair all the fair-price shops in the state, and there are 35,791 of them, of which 26,018 are full-time shops and 9,923 are part-time shops.
Among these, 5,784 shops were given ISO certification last year, and another 5,000 would get accreditation this year, he said. All the new buildings constructed for fair-price shops would be provided with toilet facilities. The government has taken a policy decision to bring all these shops under one single management, and the administrative possibilities in this regard are being explored, he added.
During the day, Radhakrishnan visited the Usilampatti primary agriculture society and inspected the sugarcane harvester machine procured by the society. He also inspected the cooperative society warehouse at Chekkanurani and reviewed the functioning of the cooperative medical shop in Chekkanurani as well. Later in the day, he inspected the direct procurement center for the paddy at Thanichiyam village.