Ration shops in rural pockets of Tirupattur district witnessed large crowds as tokens for government aid was distributed on Wednesday.
Many persons are awaiting help from the government as they have been unable to buy rice after the lockdown was announced from March 25. In order to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities, the government has announced that tokens would be issued to all ration cardholders covering a maximum of 100 persons per day per shop.
But there has hardly been any mechanism in place to prevent crowd gathering, which was considered a major source for the spread of COVID-19. Residents who got tokens did not adhere to maintaining the stipulated distance between the recipients and shopkeepers were also not keen in enforcing any discipline among the beneficiaries.
In a fair price shop in Periangkuppam in Ambur more than 75 people had gathered in front of the shop at 6 a.m. They were not bothered about the disease, and the chaos remained for more than two hours after the shop was opened.
Already, 10 persons were in the isolation wards of government hospitals in Ambur, Tirupattur and Vaniyambadi. If things did not change in the coming days, it would be a disaster for those villagers and the district administration’s intervention is sought by residents to put an end to this issue.
The latest announcement by the State Government to stop issue of tokens and to supply items at the doorstep is a welcome one, said many villagers from Ambur and Pernambut regions.
