Police personnel in Coimbatore may soon be able to purchase essential commodities at cheaper rates.
The State government is planning to set up a ‘mobile’ police canteen in the city, which would sell items, exempted from VAT, to the police personnel. As announced by the government last November, such police canteens were set up in Chennai, Tiruchy and Madurai in May.
However, the personnel here felt left out as the as the entire western region was exempted from the scheme.
Now, the government has accepted the police department’s proposal to establish a mobile canteen to cater to personnel in the district.
“The canteen will have a storage point and the commodities will be distributed from a vehicle. Personnel belonging to the Coimbatore city, district and the special police battalion can utilise the facility,” a highly placed source said.
This would also benefit retired personnel and family members of deceased personnel. Initially, essential food and grocery items would be on offer. The range of commodities would be widened over a period of time.
A monthly quota will be fixed for each beneficiary and purchases can be made only within the limit. “We have also put forth a proposal to establish a permanent subsidiary canteen in Coimbatore,” said the source. However, police officers involved in the process expressed concern over the additional manpower that would be required to manage the canteens.