Medical leave policy for ration shop owners in city

NEW DELHI : To ensure that ration beneficiaries do not fail to avail their quota of monthly subsidised food grains owing to fair price shops found closed on working days, the Delhi government has drafted a new medical leave policy for all ration shop licensees, senior government officials said on Sunday.

“Medical leave shall be granted to fair price shop (FPS) licensees only in emergency and serious medical condition wherein the licensee is unable to run the FPS efficiently owing to ill health for a specific period,” said the policy which was implemented by the Delhi government through an order issued on September 23. HT has seen the order.

Even during medical leaves, the concerned zonal officer of the food department will have to make adequate arrangements to ensure that ration card holders keep getting their entitled quota of essential food articles, the order said.

Delhi has around 2,250 fair price shops spread across the city that provide essential food articles at heavily subsidised rates to around 2 million ration card holders, which cover around 8 million individuals as beneficiaries, every month.

In Delhi, fair price shops are supposed to remain open between 10 am and 6 pm on all week days, except national holidays, but medical reasons are considered a valid exception, senior government officials said. They further said the fresh directions on medical leaves were issued under suspicion that the existing provisions were being misused by several licensees.

The order further said that all “emergency” medical leaves of any duration, henceforth, have to be sanctioned by officers in the food and civil supplies department and not circle food safety officials deployed across the city by the department.

The medical leaves policy said all leaves have to be supported by documents. Medical leaves for up to 60 days, have to be approved by zonal officers, for leaves between

60 and 90 days an additional or special commissioner in charge of the concerned district has to clear it and for leaves between 90 days and 180 days, the food commissioner’s approval is needed.

“Under no circumstance, medical leave beyond 180 days shall be allowed to an FPS licensee,” the order said.

Senior officials in the food and civil supplies department in Delhi said, the major concern around the ration distribution system in Delhi happens to be ration shops remaining closed in prescribed working hours and the department receives hundreds of complaints every month.

After the last Lok Sabha elections, the Delhi government had launched a crackdown on ration shops which were found closed during working hours and several of them were penalised.