Ration dealers remain firm on their decision to go on strike on March 7 after reconciliatory talks held with Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil broke down on Thursday.
The Ration Dealers Coordination State Committee, an umbrella organisation comprising ration retail dealers’ and employees’ unions, has called the Statewide strike raising a host of demands including bringing salesmen under the ambit of the existing wage package, hiking the government’s share in the Kerala Ration Dealers’ Welfare Fund, amending the Kerala Targeted Public Distribution System Act, and introducing an insurance scheme for the dealers.
The agitators have also been critical of the Centre’s move to bar governments and State-run agencies from procuring foodgrains through the Open Market Sales Scheme. By preventing the State governments from procuring surplus stock from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns, the Centre is intended to cater to the interests of private players in the public distribution system, they alleged.
The surplus quantity of rice and wheat should be instead allocated for distribution among the non-priority groups that are outside the ambit of the National Food Security Act, they demanded.
