Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India on Friday urged the government to provide free ration to people across the State for six more months.
Its State secretary S. Bala said the lockdown had rendered hundreds jobless. Autorickshaw and taxi drivers were yet to get back to business. “Many others who would travel outside their district for work cannot do so now. How do we expect them to purchase essentials,” he asked.
As the lockdown was likely to continue for a while, free rations had to be provided for a longer period. That was the only way to sustain poor people. People across districts raised complaints of ration shops running out of commodities. “Kerala provides 20 odd commodities free to each household. We can surely replicate the model here too,” he said.
The government should engage more persons to work at fair price shops as there were vacancies. Families of workers who had contracted COVID-19 and died while at work should be provided with compensation, he said.
