The paucity of essential items required for the Kerala government’s Onam provision kit has thrown the ongoing distribution drive off track in the State. Less than 15% of the beneficiaries have received the food kit with just 10 days left for the festival.
The Food and Civil Supplies Department, which had launched the State-wide programme on July 31, hoped to complete distribution among priority categories, chiefly Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) (yellow) and priority household (pink) card holders by August 7. However, the disbursal rate among such sections that came under the ambit of the National Food Security Act, 2013, remained poor. Only 10.54 lakh out of the 38.30 lakh beneficiaries in these categories have received the kits as on 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
Shortage of items
According to reliable sources, the shortage of cashew nuts, green gram cardamom has affected the distribution. While the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco), which has been tasked with preparing the kits, has been receiving sizeable stock of green gram and cardamom in the last few days, the failure to obtain cashew nuts in bulk has disrupted the distribution of kits among ration outlets.
However, Supplyco chairman and managing director P.M. Ali Asgar Pasha maintained that there was sufficient availability of all items required for the kits. He attributed the low distribution rate to the failure of the public to adhere to the days allotted for various categories. The drive usually picked up pace from the second week, he said.
In all, 11.24 lakh people out of the 90.96 lakh ration card holders in the State have been provided so far. The government had hoped to complete the distribution by August 16. Specific days had been allotted for each ration card categories in order to prevent crowding. Such plans have, however, gone kaput.
Public anger
All Kerala Retail Ration Dealers’ Association general secretary T. Muhammedali said the shortage of kits has led to the public venting their ire on ration dealers. The situation is expected to worsen with non-priority card holders beginning to seek their allocated kits. He urged the government to extend the deadline for the distribution drive.
Making matters worse, the government stared at the impending threat of ration dealers resorting to agitation over the non-payment of commission dues for the last 10 months.
