The
Organisation
The
Public Distribution System in Kerala is enforced by the
State Civil Supplies Department which is under the exclusive
charge of the Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Secretary
to Government, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs
Department. Under him, there is the Director of Civil Supplies
who is the Chief Executive Head of the Department. There
is a Controller of Rationing with State wide jurisdiction
on matters of Rationing and a Controller of Rationing (Enforcement)
having the same status to implement the rules and policies
and Assistant Secretaries and staff to assist the Director
on administrative matters. There is a Chief Accounts Officer
at the Headquarters to look after the accounts. There are
four Deputy Controllers of Rationing with zonal jurisdictions
whose functions mainly are inspection of subordinate offices
and to conduct enquiries on complaints against the dealers
and members of the staff etc. There is a Control Room functioning
in the Directorate under the supervision of a Statistical
Officer who is responsible to collect statistical data required
for the effective functioning of the Department. In each
district, there is a District Supply Officer who is the
head of the Civil Supplies administration of each Revenue
District. The concerned District Collector also supervises
the work of the District Supply Officer. Under the District
Supply Officer, there is a Taluk Supply Officer in each
Taluk, who is assisted by Rationing Inspectors. The Three
city Corporations of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode
are further divided into two zones each, and a City Rationing
Officer is put in charge of each zone. A rationing Inspector
has jurisdiction over a Firka where 30 to 40 Retail Ration
Shops are functioning. His duties are mainly to sanction
rationed articles indented by the Ration dealers and to
check and supervise the functioning of each outlet. All
the Ration Shops are being inspected by the Officers frequently
to guard against malpractice. A Vigilance Officer having
state-wide jurisdiction is also been working under the direct
supervision of the Director of Civil Supplies
