Kakinada, Jan 2nd: The East Godavari administration initiated measures to set up village malls to cater to the needs of local population. Said to be first of their kind in the state, the malls are being set-up in all 58 mandals on a  pilot basis in the first phase of the program. According to official sources, the program was initiated to provide addition and reasonable income to the PDS dealer who will be given permission to start these malls. The authorities took this decision to avert malpractice by some PDS dealers under the pretext of less  on the dealership.

The dealers will be permitted to sell non PDS items like fancy, agriculture seeds, sim cards and recharge coupons of cell phones in addition to setting up Internet centers for the needs of local community. The administration will also initiate steps for dealership of goods and tie up with commercial banks for securing  the necessary funds. The precondition for setting these malls is under no circumstances the authorities would permit the dealer to sell PDS items in the mall. Joint collector, Mr. Kona Sasidhar said on Sunday that a meeting will be held with the representatives of the dealers and interested parties to finalize the selection.