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Weak sales figures behind move; payment mode also changed Discouraged by poor patronage from retail consumers, the State government recently scaled down procurement for the ‘Amma Cement Supply Scheme’ which was launched by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2014 to help lower and middle income groups purchase cement at subsidised prices. The highest sales recorded under the scheme by the Tamil Nadu Cements Corporation Ltd (Tancem) has only been 52% [of the quantity procured] in August 2016. Though Tancem, the nodal agency for implementing the scheme, was to procure 2 lakh MTs of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) per month and sell it at the rate of ?190 a bag [of 50 kg] to consumers, the procurement has now been scaled down by a standard formula taking into account the average of sales in the past four months and the waitlisted quantity. Sale records of 2015-16 and 2016-17 in various godowns across the State showed that the total sales in a month “never touched” the monthly purchase order of 2 lakh MTs. The sales were highest in August 2016 when 1,05,243 MTs were sold, which is only 52.62% of the purchase order quantity, according to a GO. In May 2016, the sale was quite low with only 23.13% or 46,250 MTs of the total purchase of 2 lakh MTs. The trend continued into 2016-17 too and the highest sale was in April 2017 with 71,114 MTs (35%). The Industries Department has also changed the payment mode for cement from cash to payment by account payee demand drafts, since cash payment led to problems like remittances in wrong accounts and misappropriation. The ‘Amma Cement Supply Scheme’, an improvement over the earlier scheme launched by the DMK, was announced by Jayalalithaa in September 2014 and the sale commenced in her Srirangam constituency in Tiruchi district in January 2015. Cement was to be procured from seven private manufacturers. The general public can get a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 100 cement bags under the scheme. |
