New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brother and Vice President of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation (AIFPSDF), Prahlad Modi on Tuesday staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar, as reported by news agency PTI. Prahlad and other members gathered at Jantar Mantar and raised slogans regarding the demands of the organisation. During this, he said that the delegation of AIFPSDF would soon submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The demands of the organisation will be listed in the memorandum and they will be conveyed to the Prime Minister, he said.
“A delegation of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers’ Federation will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, listing our long-standing demands for the sake of our survival. With the current situation of hike in the cost of living and overhead expenditures for running shops, a raise of mere 20 paise per kg in our margin is a cruel joke. We request the Union government to grant us relief and end our financial miseries,” Prahlad Modi said.
The AIFPSDF has nine demands, including compensation for losses incurred on rice, wheat and sugar sold through fair price shops as well as edible oil and pulses. Apart from this, they are also demanding the implementation of the ‘West Bengal Ration Model’ of free distribution across the country. Prahlad Modi said, AIFPSDF will hold a meeting of the National Executive on Wednesday, in which the future strategy will be decided.
AIFPSDF National General Secretary Biswambhar Basu said that they will submit a memorandum related to their nine-point demands to the Prime Minister. He said, ‘We also plan to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday.’
“We also demand that edible oil, pulses and LPG gas cylinders be supplied through fair price shops. Rural areas’ fair price shop dealers should be allowed to function as direct procurement agents for rice and wheat. Our demands were also raised by TMC MP Sougata Roy in Parliament,” Mr Basu said, adding that their protests will continue until their demands are met.
(With PTI Inputs)