yotipriyo Mallick ignored warnings from Centre about foodgrain distribution during Covid-19 outbreak

When Jyotipriyo Mallick was the minister of food and supplies for Bengal, he appeared to have disregarded multiple warning signs from the Center regarding the distribution of foodgrains during the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a source in the state department of food and supplies.

According to the source, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana beneficiaries were receiving less foodgrain than the prescribed amounts, and the Union government had apparently alerted the state government to this issue at least three times in 2020.

During the countrywide lockdown, the Center provided 5 kg of free foodgrains per month to around six crore individuals in the state. The plan was then extended through the middle of 2021.

"The beneficiaries were not receiving adequate food grains in accordance with their entitlement, according to letters submitted to the state's food and supply secretary by S. Jagannathan, the joint secretary of the Union ministry of consumer affairs, food, and public distribution at the time. During the epidemic, Jagdeep Dhankhar, the governor at the time, had also expressed concerns about anomalies in the public distribution system. However, the department of food and supplies took no action, according to a senior official.

Sources said that the state food and supply agency showedcaused 359 ration sellers, primarily in the districts of North-24 Parganas, Nadia, and Murshidabad, when the Center's letters arrived. But nobody was subjected to harsh punishment... A official stated, "It seemed the department did not want to go into the concerns in further detail.

The sources claimed that despite the department receiving unmistakable indications that the complaints were valid in the majority of cases due to local protests against the ration stores, it was remarkable that no investigation into any of the ration dealers was carried out.

"People had broken into ration stores in Jalangi, Murshidabad, and Baduria, North and South 24 Parganas, claiming they were not receiving food grains as per their entitlement. A bureaucrat stated, "During that time, beneficiaries organized a number of other agitations, but the department did nothing."

According to sources within the food and supplies department, the department chose to remain silent on the matter at the behest of then-Minister Mallick.

Officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have connected Mallick's passivity to his purported friendship with Bakibur Rahman, the owner of a rice mill who had previously been taken into custody by the organization.

"Many in the department suspect that some owners of ration shops, especially those in North 24-Parganas, Nadia, and Murshidabad, used to send some foodgrains to Bakibur's mill." According to a source, the foodgrains were either smuggled into neighboring countries like Bangladesh or sold on the open market after leaving the mill.

Additionally, it is said that some administrative personnel and politicians benefited from those anomalies.

Officials from the food department stated that the minister ought to have intervened when the recipients staged protests, claiming to be receiving subpar food grains.

According to a source, "specifically, actions ought to have been done when the Center brought up complaints about beneficiaries not receiving food grains in accordance with their entitlement."