NEW DELHI: The government is considering to allow courier and express services during the lockdown period categorising them as an essential service and also amending the corporate social responsibility (CSR) rules to allow companies to spend CSR funds for providing cooked food to the poor.
Sources said since couriers and express parcels are delivered at doorstep, social distancing can be fully maintained and this will also reduce crowding at post offices. Postal services have already been exempted during lockdown. Large number of already dispatched important parcels are said to be lying with courier firms.
TOI has learnt that issue of essential services, supplies, huge influx of migrants and providing cooked food to the poor and vulnerable have been flagged as major concerns during video conferences held by Union ministers with collectors, deputy commissioners and district police chiefs.
Change in the CSR rules will allow the private sector to chip in for food distribution to the vulnerable considering that they have already taken the lead in this initiative to serve the hungry. NGO and charitable trusts have also taken it on themselves to serve cooked food to the needy.
Sources said the issue of NGOs and charitable trusts finding it difficult to get food grains at affordable rate was discussed at length in a meeting attended by Union home minister Amit Shah and food minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday evening.
It was decided that Food Corporation of India (FCI) will offer foodgrains to such entities running relief camps or community kitchens at cheaper rate of Rs 22 and Rs 21 per kg for rice and wheat so that they dont face any issue of grain availability. They don't need to follow e-auction process.
“We have instructed FCI that these organisations should get the foodgrains under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) from their godowns without going through the e-auction process. Our priority is to see none is left hungry in the country,” Paswan told TOI.
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